


Hinata's Hero

by Labrabell



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fanfiction, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2020-06-03 20:16:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 101,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19471384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Labrabell/pseuds/Labrabell
Summary: After the incident, all Naruto wanted was for the memories to go away. But now things are different. Now he's found someone he can share his pain with, someone who can share her pain with him, and someone who he can pursue his attacker with.





	1. Root - 1

Root - 1

Naruto turned into another alleyway, flying around the corner. He looked for all the world like an orange and yellow blur streaking through backalleys and dark streets. Thinking quickly as he navigated the maze-like streets, he spotted a route he had neglected to take thus far, and decided to take the chance. He skidded across the rough ground, dodging discarded trash and shards of broken glass as he did so, before ploughing forth as fast as his short legs would carry him.

Soon enough Naruto neared the end of the alley. Before him, a few meters away, was a fence. It was too tall for a boy of his age to scale, but not so tall that it would hinder someone as agile as Naruto; who took a flying leap onto a nearby dumpster before diving over the fence.

An adrenaline rush kicked in as he did so, causing him to jump a good meter higher than he should have. As a result Naruto landed a little harder than he had hoped; stumbling slightly. But he managed to regain his footing, and put on another burst of speed before turning the corner-

And running straight into a tall figure!

The sudden stop caused Naruto to bounce backwards, falling to a seated position on the ground. He mumbled an apology as he shook his head, disoriented by the recent turn of events. As his mind began to clear, the boy took note of the stranger turning around and grasping him by the collar of his bright orange jumpsuit.

The stranger snarled, pressing his face closer to Naruto's. The stench of alcohol and poor hygiene washed over the boy as the hand that held his collar began to lift him into the air. The man was about to voice his annoyance when he paused, turning Naruto's face to the small pool of light that splashed across the concrete.

An expression of anger turned to a sneer, malicious intent clear in his eyes.

"Well hello there, little fox." He began, his voice strangely soft in comparison to his rough outside appearance. "How nice of you to wander into my den"

OoOoO

Naruto awoke with a gasp, sweat streaming down his face as he escaped the throes of his nightmare. The silence around him was unnerving; It allowed him to hear his body respond to the panic he was feeling inside. The thumping heartbeat, the blood rushing in his ears, the laboured breathing… it was the same every time he had one of these dreams.

And in the two weeks since _it_ had happened, he'd had those kinds of dreams much too often.

The boy knew that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after waking up like that. It shook him up, dreaming like that; gave him a sense of hyper-alertness that would persist for several hours.

Naruto sighed shakily, climbing out of bed and heading to the bathroom to splash his face with some cold water. The sweat that had been pouring down his face had begun to dry, leaving it sticky and warm. Once he was done he climbed back into bed - but not before grabbing a scroll to read while he waited for dawn to break.

_Might as well do something useful while I wait,_ He thought to himself.

He'd changed a lot since it had happened. Everyone in Naruto's class had known him to be outspoken, boisterous and overly friendly to people. He was one of the few people to have achieved 100% attendance (Though he often tried - and failed - to escape his sensei Iruka multiple times throughout the last few years), and he was always spouting off about how he'd definitely be the hokage one day. Believe it!

He'd made a habit of challenging himself to run home from the academy every day; attempting to beat his previous time. Each attempt had allowed him to improve on his speed, to the point that he was able to outrun most of his classmates. The only time he didn't compete in this challenge of his was when Iruka-sensei had invited him out to ramen.

But two weeks ago, all of this had changed. Naruto had begun to shy away from people. Ino Yamanaka would berate him for looking too long at "Sasuke-kun", and he'd look down and stay quiet rather than begin mouthing off at her as he previously did. Sakura Haruno would hit him upside the head for accidentally brushing past her and he'd flinch away timidly. The drastic change of behaviour had everyone confused. But Naruto refused to provide an answer.

The boy's eyes were sliding down the page as his mind had turned to the events of the past few weeks. No matter how many times he brought his focus back to the writing before him, he just could not concentrate. He was finally roused from his musing when the alarm clock to his right began to beep; signalling that it was time to get ready.

Naruto didn't particularly want to go to the academy today. It was hard to keep up the "I'm fine" pretence. But he had to get out of the house for a while, it was sending him crazy just staring at those grey walls. Besides; the academy provided a good place for him to concentrate on something other than his emotional state.

Unsurprisingly Naruto didn't have much of an appetite after the night's events. The panic left him with a sour taste in his mouth that not even ramen could help to cleanse. So he walked straight past the kitchen, and out into the cold.

Having skipped breakfast, he was relatively early to class, and was the first to arrive. He moved straight to the back of the classroom, picking the furthest, darkest corner so that it would be hard to make out his facial expressions should he find his emotions running too high. Naruto watched with a blank expression as others began to file in, chatting to one another and throwing paper plane notes while Iruka was out of the room. No one really looked at Naruto any more.

Once their sensei had finally arrived, and the class had settled down to do some work, the boy was starting to feel the recent lack of sleep building behind his eyes. Before he knew it, as hard as he tried to stay awake, the warmth and the tiredness combined forced his eyelids to slide closed; and he fell into a relatively deep sleep.

Naruto didn't wake up until the bell had rung for lunchtime.

He looked around, groggy from the deep sleep and frustrated at himself for being so weak as to fall asleep like that. Somehow he'd managed to sleep through 2 hours of lessons, breaktime and another 2 hours. Noticing that most of the students had already left the room, Naruto hastened to put his paper and pencil away and dashed towards the door, leaving the now empty classroom. He turned the corner and-

He ran straight into a tall figure...

Naruto awoke, curled into a ball. He was sobbing already, even before he'd regained consciousness, and there was a burning sensation in his lungs. Blood and Kami knows what other fluids were running down his legs, bare and exposed by the pants that were pooled around his ankles. It dripped onto the concrete below him, adding to the urine that his bladder had released while he was unconscious. He didn't dare move; if he even breathed too hard, pain wracked his body. He doubted that he'd have the strength to move anyway.

And so there he stayed, frozen in place, hoping that the pain would go away soon. The sobbing had subsided quickly enough, but the boy was still shaking from the shock of what happened.

"Help" He called in a feeble voice, throat torn from screaming. He tried to call again but his voice cracked, and fresh tears began to fall. His vision was fading.

And suddenly, Naruto was awake. Alert. Adrenaline coursed through his body, tense and twitching as he registered the hand that was touching his shoulder.

"No! Get away from me!" He croaked, believing that it was his attacker returning for more. He tried to sit up, tried to move away, but the hand remained, keeping him in the seated position he'd managed to get to. His panic was increasing.

"Please" He begged, losing all rational thought. " _Please, don't do this again!_ "

But still the hand persisted. Naruto began to struggle more, trying to fight the hand away - before he was wrapped in an embrace. An unfamiliar voice whispered words of comfort to the distressed boy as he stilled; but he was too far gone to hear them. A powerful feeling was rising within him, building up. Forcing all other thoughts out of his head. The power was coursing through him. Then suddenly he felt a chop to the neck, and everything went black.

OoOoO

Naruto gasped loudly, pushing Iruka away with more force than was necessary. He was hyperventilating, still panicking as he tried to work out what had just happened. The boy locked eyes with his sensei for a few long seconds, as he finally understood. He jumped up abruptly, still shaking, before running towards the open window on the other side of the room and making his escape; leaving his shocked sensei staring after him silently.


	2. Root- 2

** Root - 2 **

Once their sensei had finally arrived, and the class had settled down to do some work, the boy was starting to feel the recent lack of sleep building behind his eyes. Before he knew it, as hard as he tried to stay awake, the warmth and the tiredness combined forced his eyelids to slide closed; and he fell into a relatively deep sleep…

Iruka struggled to hide the frown that creased his brow as he spied Naruto quite literally nodding off in the corner. It wasn't the first time it had happened in class as of late; the boy had been struggling to stay awake pretty much every other day over the past few weeks. Anyone who knew Naruto's antics would know that this behaviour wasn't out of the ordinary at all. It was no secret that the kid would cooperate as little as possible in class, and as such tended to end up in a collapsed heap over his desk, the only sign of life being an occasional loud snore.

But Iruka was, above all, a shinobi, and as such he was much more adept at analysing a person's body language. When Naruto had been 'sleeping' in the past, he was doing little more than covering his face and resting his eyes so that he could essentially block out the lesson, but still be listening enough to be able to answer a question at least half-assedly when he was called upon. It was a pretty clever technique. Being the loudmouth he is he probably added the snoring effects to annoy his peers.

But this… this was different. Over the past three weeks, Iruka had noticed a severe drop in the boy's attitude, as he had suddenly seemed to transform from the boisterous hokage wannabe everyone knew - and... uh... "Loved" - into a mere shell of his former self. Yes, he would still make jokes and act loud and boisterous, but Iruka easily noticed how his eyes didn't sparkle as they once did, and the way that even after his trademark foxy grins he would quietly slip back into a saddened frown.

And with all that had came the sleeping. Time and again Naruto would sit at the back of the room, bolt upright and staring either at the blackboard or at the desk below him. Iruka could see that he tried his hardest to keep himself awake, tried every discreet technique he could come up with to keep himself awake, even stabbing himself with a pencil. But sometimes it just didn't work, and he would be out like a light until the loud ring of the lunch bell startled him out of his dreams.

Iruka didn't have the heart to wake him up when he dropped off like that. The deep purple bags under his eyes said that the boy could really do with it; and it would simply be cruel to give the class any reason to ridicule him further than he already was.

He had of course tried to coax Naruto into telling him what was wrong. But no matter how many ramens he bought, how many extra-curricular training sessions he gave him, nothing seemed to serve to open him up. The teacher had even - earning himself a grilling from upper management - taught the boy a forbidden jutsu to help with his chakra control issues. But still he remained closed.

Not that Iruka blamed him. He'd heard from Naruto himself what kind of life he'd grown up in. He supposed he'd have issues opening up to people if he'd been through that much hostility too-

"Iruka sensei?"

The mentioned teacher was pulled from his deep thoughts as he realised that he had completely frozen up on his class. He was supposed to be teaching, kami damnit! A glance at the clock said that he'd only been silent for perhaps half a minute, meaning that he would be able to pass it off as something simple.

"I was thinking about whether or not I should give you a more practical session after lunch" He half-lied, knowing that he had been planning as much in the first place. "And I've decided that if you all behave, I'll take you to the training field and we can spar."

He spared a couple of pointed glances to the primary troublemakers in the class, before waiting for the murmurs of excitement to die down, and continuing the lesson. Needless to say the group behaved pretty well.

OoOoO

"That's correct." Iruka responded, looking towards a shy Hyuuga. "But remember that in order to get the mark for it in your tests, you'll have to explain how you came to that conclusion."

Hinata nodded almost imperceptibly, before scribbling notes on her notebook. She wasn't the only one; quite a few of the students had taken Iruka's warning to heart, and had actually paid attention to the lesson rather than lounging around as usual. He was about to ask another question when the telltale ring of the lunch bell reverberated around the room, Rustling papers and squeaking chairs followed the bell as thirty hungry kids began to frantically pack their items away and rush to get the best spaces in the playground. The teacher had time only to shout "Training field two at one o'clock!" Before the noise of a mass exodus drowned anything else out. In a little over 5 seconds, Iruka found himself alone in his classroom once more - bar 2 students.

Hinata had paused when she had seen that Naruto hadn't moved, and was peering at him with concern in her expression. It seemed as though she was going to approach him when the Umino spoke up.

"Hinata, do you need something?"

She tore her eyes away from the boy to look at her sensei timidly. "Is he okay?"

Iruka's eyes softened as he saw the worry in her eyes, and he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry." He reassured, turning her gently towards the door. "I'm going to have a little chat with him. He'll be okay."

She seemed content with this answer, and soon left to join her friends in the playground, leaving Iruka alone with the sleeping boy. He wasn't sure whether or not to wake him at first, figuring he could probably do with the sleep. But then again, he'd told Hinata that he'd have a word with the boy, and he wasn't the type to go back on his word.

As he drew nearer to Naruto, Iruka couldn't help but notice that his breathing was much faster than normal, almost verging on hyperventilation. Besides this there was a degree of tension around his arms, shoulders and legs that shouldn't be seen on a boy of his age, moreover a sleeping one at that.

By the time Iruka had gotten to Naruto his breathing was laboured enough that he was definitely hyperventilating, and his body was shaking like crazy. He wasn't so sure what to do, so he placed his hand gently on his shoulder. This seemed to worsen the impact as he began moving his arms about - not quite flailing but getting pretty close to it.

"No, get away from me!"

It was faint, but Iruka's trained ears had picked it up. Naruto's movements were getting more frantic, a sense of panic seeming to set in. his rambling grew louder, until Iruka could clearly hear his pressured pleas for respite.

"Please" He was repeating, over and over. "Please, don't do this again!"

The phrase caused Iruka's heart to skip a beat. He could feel his memories rising.

"Tousan, kaasan, please, don't go. Please, don't do this again!" He called frantically, tears rolling down his scarred face.

But it was too late. They were already gone. He felt himself break down as he was carried away by the sandaime, his parent's lifeless eyes haunting his vision long after he'd closed his eyes, and accepted the darkness of unconsciousness.

Iruka lunged forwards, enveloping the boy before him in a hug. He forced down his own tears as Naruto shook further, lashing out at him.

And suddenly, Iruka was on the floor, looking up at a now-awake Naruto, who in his panicked state had somehow managed to aim a two-footed kick right at his chest. He was still hyperventilating, still trying to make sense of his surroundings. It felt like an age, but it was little more than a few seconds before Naruto understood all he needed to.

Before Iruka could even move, let alone stop him; Naruto had jumped up and made his exit through one of the open windows at the back of the class. Since they were on a top floor classroom he jumped up, using the sill as a booster to get up to the roof, and disappeared.

A quick glance at the clock told him that it was half past twelve; he had half an hour before he had to be back to teach his class. He figured that was plenty time, as he could already sense that Naruto had not left the roof of the academy; instead opting to sit huddled up in a sheltered area.

Iruka took a moment to steel himself - as he had been rather shaken by both his own flashback and the unexpected turn of events - before taking the normal route up to the roof. The door of said route just so happened to be exactly where Naruto was huddled, too. It was a short walk, but it felt like so much longer when there were so many different scenarios running through his head.

And yet by the time he arrived, he was still none the wiser as to what he could say, Regardless, he gently knocked the door, and just said whatever came to him first.

"Who is it?" Naruto asked, strain evident in his voice.

"It's me." Iruka replied, trusting that Naruto would recognise his voice. "Can I come out to you please? I don't want to be shouting through a door."

He didn't really expect Naruto to oblige, but he figured it was worth a try anyway, And to his shock, the boy shifted himself away from one of the doors, and unlached it for him to step through. He sat down besides him, studying his expression from the corner of his eye, Iruka could sense that Naruto had things he wanted to say, so he chose to stay quiet - other than a thanks for letting him through - to allow him to speak in his own time.

And eventually, he did.

"Sorry for kicking you sensei" He began, the smallest of sheepish smiles tugging at the corners of his mouth,

Iruka on the other hand, chuckled, as it had been a long time since someone had apologised for attacking him. "Ahaha, don't worry about it Naruto." he replied. He was careful to keep his tone light, encouraging the boy to chat as he liked. "It's gotta be the first time someone's attacked me and apologised rather than trying to lodge a kunai in my back!"

The small smile returned for a moment, before fading away into the silence once more.

'Twenty minutes left.'

A further five minutes had passed before he knew it, and Iruka decided to take conversation into his own hands for a while.

"You know Naruto, when I used to have a rough day when I was at school, I would escape at lunchtimes for a while too." He remarked. "I used to sit at the memorial stone, and trace my parents' names. I suppose it was a sense of comfort to me. I didn't really have anyone to open up to."

Naruto didn't answer, but his body language had changed. Iruka could see that he was listening.

"Then one day, as I was sitting there... trying not to cry over memories of them, the sandaime came to me. He hugged me, whispered to me that I would be okay. He helped me to heal from the pain I was going through and I opened up to him. I knew I could tell him anything."

He was unsuccessful this time around, at preventing the tears from falling. But he wiped them away quickly, hoping that Naruto hadn't noticed.

"I hope you have someone like that, Naruto. Somebody you can talk to. Somebody who can give you a hug when you need it and tell you that you're going to be okay; that you're going to get through it."

The boy hunched down slightly, now looking to the ground rather than out towards the horizon.

"And I want you to know that I'm always here. You're always welcome to come and talk to me. I know how it feels to have those nightmares - I have them myself. I… I had to stop being a shinobi because of it. But there is a way out of it, Naruto. I promise you. No matter how painful it is, no matter whatever's happened to you… you'll make it through. I believe in you."

Never before had Naruto heard those words. No one had assured him that he would make it through the pain and suffering. No one had ever comforted him. And to hear Iruka tell him… that he believed in him… It was just too much. For the first time in a very, very long time, Naruto curled into a ball, and pressed himself into his teacher. He finally allowed himself to break down in front of another person.

The tears rolled down his face and sobs wracked his body as Iruka put his arms around the boy's shoulders and pulled him close.

OoOoO

Once Naruto had calmed down once more, Iruka finally broke the embrace, noting that he only had another five minutes before he had to teach. He would have to run to the bathroom and splash his face before he went there - the boy's breakdown had triggered a few more tears of his own and his eyes were beginning to get a little puffy.

But before he left, he wrote his address on a piece of paper, and passed it to Naruto.

"If you ever need me, no matter what time it is, come and see me. Alright? We can discuss whatever you need, over tea, ramen, or I can even cook you something myself if you like. You don't have to go through this… whatever this is, alone."

He nodded his thanks, taking it and putting it in a safe place.

"I have to get to the class now." Iruka continued. "Take the rest of the day off. Get some sleep if you can bare it. I'm going to come to check up on you tonight."

He gave the boy one more pat on the shoulder, before heading off to splash his face and get back to the lesson.

OoOoO

"I understand your concern, Iruka. We are already aware of the issues regarding the boy at the moment. I would appreciate it if you could give me a report every now and then, on your findings, but I cannot explain to you the details of what has happened. This is Naruto's story, and only he has the authority to tell you."

The teacher understood. It was after all more or less as he'd expected. As a teacher he was familiar with the confidentiality clause himself. But to hear that something had happened, and from the hokage himself no less, was enough to raise his concerns. Again, he was pretty certain that something had happened - after all, people don't suddenly change for no reason - but that's not to say it wasn't still marginally upsetting to find out that his suspicions had been correct.

He would have said more regarding the matter, but he was taken on by a strange feeling of premonition. Hiruzen seemed to have noticed the change in his expression as he was studying Iruka's face intently, waiting for him to explain.

"I'm going to visit Naruto" He said simply, a frown still adorning his face. Hiruzen understood his phrase to mean that he was concerned about the boy for some reason, and that he should follow the chuunin with his crystal ball. "I'll give you the usual signals" Iruka continued, before disappearing.

This was relating to a common system hiruzen had established with some of his better known chuunin and jounin, regarding that they would display specific hand signs during an incident to explain to him what they thought should be done. There were signs for many different battle strategies, and unbeknownst to many of the shinobi that were involved with this system, the hand signs were taken from the ANBU hand sign registry; allowing for any ANBU that may happen to be watching to understand the meaning of said signals too.

Hiruzen tuned his ball into the teacher's position, and watched on.

OoOoO

Iruka left the office pretty quickly, employing a sense of urgency he didn't know the cause for. He wanted nothing more than to believe that he was just being paranoid; that he was just letting everything that happened lately get to him. But he also knew deep down that this wasn't the case. A shinobi's strongest sense was his intuition, and oftentimes it was suicide to ignore it.

It didn't matter what was happening, if a shinobi had a gut feeling, everyone rolled with it. It was just one of those unwritten rules.

Iruka felt his heartbeat rise as he approached Naruto's apartment. There was no light showing through the windows, which could be both a good and bad thing. But right now the teacher took it to mean bad. Heading straight to the window, he rapped on it loudly, peering into the room. His living room and kitchen were empty, There was a window in the kitchen that was slightly open, so Iruka used it to squeeze through and check the boy's room. Empty.

His pulse was racing now. As he let himself back through the window, Iruka was deep in thought as to where his student could be. It was worrisome that he wasn't in his house, as Naruto had a nasty habit of being able to hide from view for hours at a time. Iruka was one of the only people that could find him this way, but even then it wasn't always possible. If Naruto didn't want to be found, Naruto wouldn't be found.

He wouldn't settle on his usual tracking techniques this time. The teacher would instead use the most effective tracking technique he had in his arsenal. Crouching down, the chuunin lowered his head, and focused. This technique was sure to give him a headache later, given the fact that he was doing it in a place with so many signatures to consider, but it would be worth it to ensure the boy's safety.

OoOoO

Iruka had sensed Naruto, on the top of one of the buildings that crested hokage rock. His chakra seemed to be acting strangely; spiking and retracting, and he seemed to be sticking to the same area. He was running towards the boy at a fast pace, hoping to be able to reach him sooner rather than later to determine the cause of that spiking chakra.

When he did arrive, he didn't have to look far to find Naruto. His eye-watering jumpsuit was all he needed, but his strange behaviour would certainly have helped too. Knowing Hiruzen was watching, Iruka quickly flashed signs for "backup" and "surround" before approaching the boy.

The building was pretty tall, and Iruka had to climb the wall using chakra to get to the top, as a single chakra jump would not have cut it. He had made quite a lot of noise but his student hadn't seemed to notice him, as he was too absorbed in his own situation.

As for Naruto himself, Iruka could see that he had a sake bottle in his hands, and by the state of his movement he'd gotten through most of it. He had something in his other hand too, but any clues as to what it was were obscured. He was crying, staring down towards the village and pacing back and forth as best he could- but with the amount of sake in his body it was more like stumbling rather than anything else. If he fell the wrong way, it would be a good hundred meters at least before he hit the ground, and Iruka figured he wasn't exactly in any kind of state to be able to save himself.

He allowed his mind to run through possible scenarios, and their outcomes. The reason for Naruto being here was pretty easy to guess- Iruka himself had been in the same position as Naruto when he'd been retired from active duty. But the bigger question was how he'd react when approached. This was why he had stayed back for the time being; if he had rushed in and Naruto had done anything rash, he would have failed to protect the person he swore to help.

He had two options right now, and both had numerous outcomes. If he spoke up, Naruto might be startled. He may jump. There was a chance that he would step down, but it's only a chance.

Besides that he could jump forwards, and grab Naruto. Bring him from the edge. But then there's the risk he wouldn't be fast enough, or Naruto would break away, or he would miscalculate and cause them both to fall.

'Damnit, too much risk.'

There had to be a third option, surely.

But the time for consideration was up, as Naruto made Iruka's mind for him. He stumbled, stopping in his tracks suddenly. The teacher wasn't too sure what was going on, until he saw the boy's eyes roll back into his head, and he began to sway.

The chuunin jumped up, lunging forwards to catch him. But he was just milliseconds too late, as the boy completely lost his footing, and began to plunge down towards the ground.

"SHIT!" Iruka yelled, before diving over the edge after him.

The wind rushed past his ears as he fell, angling himself towards the unconscious Uzumaki. With one hand he reached out to grasp him, and with the other he grabbed a rope kunai from his pouch. He threw it towards the cliff edge, hoping and praying that it would take hold. It seemed to do so, and the rope brought them to a lurching halt, some twenty meters up from the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief at this, glad that it had worked to keep them safe.

Over the past three weeks Naruto had lost a lot of weight, and it was this fact that had helped to save them. Had Naruto kept the weight he had gained from years of bingeing on ramen, Iruka had little doubt that the rope would not have held, and it would not have broken their fall in the slightest.

Speaking of which…

The rope seemed to have caught on the rock face, pressing directly against the sharp edge of a rock. A mild gust of wind was all that it needed for the strain to become too much, and the thin fibres snapped, plunging the two of them the final twenty meters down, hitting solid concrete.

The way Iruka was angled meant that he fell first, with Naruto falling directly on top of him, knocking the wind from his chest. He'd just grazed his head on the way down too, which, while not bad enough to knock him out, had served to sap the chuunin's strength down to nothing. So he was forced to lay there and wait, until the ANBU guards that Hiruzen had sent arrived, and helped him to his feet.

Iruka's strength gradually returned as he popped a soldier pill, and he was able to focus on other tasks. The ANBU, having seen the scene play out, were sure that Naruto had simply acquired and drank a lot of sake, and were content to leave him in Iruka's capable hands. But something was making the chuunin think otherwise, as his intuition was still flaring despite the danger began looking around the area that they'd fallen, making note of the shattered sake bottle that had smashed when it had fallen from Naruto's grasp.

That was it.

Naruto had been holding something else. Iruka still didn't know what it was that he had been holding, but he had a feeling that it wasn't something good. He relayed as much to the ANBU operatives around him, who, out of respect, accepted his reasoning and set out to search, while one member stayed behind to do a medical scan on the prone boy. The results of the search returned at the same time as the medical scan, which determined that Naruto had taken one hell of a lot of industrial strength civilian medication with the sake, which, if not purged from his body, may well cause his internal organs to shut down.

With this bombshell, Naruto was rushed straight to hospital, to undergo emergency treatment. Right now it was unsure whether they would be able to treat the boy in time, being so young. But only time would tell.

The ANBU agreed to allow Iruka to take the boy to the medical center, since he needed his own treatment anyway. One member was sent along with him to ensure that they both got there safely, and after that they were separated and taken to individual wings of the center. Iruka, with his injuries being superficial, was taken to the minor trauma unit, and treated for little more than bruised ribs and a hairline fracture to his pelvis. He was prescribed with painkillers and a week's rest, before being sent on his way.

But instead of going home as the nurse had suggested, the teacher went straight to Naruto's room, and waited outside to find out what was going on.

Iruka had seen so much of himself within the boy, that he had naturally found himself growing closer to him. He had begun to consider Naruto a younger brother to him; maybe even a son, and as such he refused to leave until he could make sure the boy was alright.

He would be spending one sleepless night in that corridor, waiting with a heavy heart for the results of the next day's tests.


	3. Root - 3

** Root - 3 **

[3 weeks ago]

Hiruzen located his pipe, lighting it and taking several long drags from it. The stress lines in his face seemed so much deeper than they normally were, and it was clear to see that the stress of the incident was beginning to take its toll on the older hokage.

"I am glad that it was you that found the boy." He remarked, once the tobacco and its chemical release had begun to sink in to his weary bones. He had chosen not to sleep overnight in favour of personally overseeing Naruto's healing process, and it was beginning to show. "Had it been anyone else, there could have been a significant amount of damage sustained before he was brought under control. Whether that would be to Naruto, or his surroundings we may never know."

But the masked shinobi before him was not comforted by his words. In fact, it seemed to serve only to make him more agitated. He paced around the room, wringing his hands. He'd worked himself into quite a state, barely coming up for air as he stumbled over his words and chattered on like a monkey on speed.

"B-b-b-but hokage-sama, if I had been there earlier, if I'd been faster to get to my post, or if I'd been more attentive-"

Hiruzen cut over the man, stopping him in his tracks.

"Tenzo, do not be so fast to blame yourself. You didn't do this to the boy." He stopped to take another long hit from his pipe before continuing. "If we consider our options here, I am just as much to blame as you are- in fact I am more to blame than most being as I am the hokage."

The man nodded. It did make sense.

"However, if I were to put myself down for every mistake I could have made, I would not be sitting in this seat right here. There is so much and yet so little that a single person can do. It takes one person to ruin a life, but it also takes one to save a life. You saved a great deal of lives by preventing that outburst, and as such you have my thanks.

"What has happened to the boy, has happened. I am not exactly happy with it either, but all we can do now is band together to provide him strength through the following difficult times. You know as well as I do what trauma can do to the body."

Tenzo could do little else than nod once more. The hokage had a rather unnerving habit of stripping him of his ability to speak when he was in a panicked state. It was one of the many reasons he had found so much respect for the man - he always knew what to say in a difficult situation.

Regardless, there was still a few things that had the two of them concerned. The fact that this had happened so close to home had left a rather bitter taste in Hiruzen's mouth, which wasn't helped by the fact that even his best ANBU tracking team had been unable to locate the perpetrator. It truly was as if he had simply disappeared.

It just didn't sit right with him.

The more pressing question was that of the perp's ability as a shinobi. For him to have been powerful enough that Konoha's number one elusive prankster was unable to escape, he must have had low-level ANBU skills at best. Naruto was notoriously good at evading Hiruzen's ANBU specialists whenever he pulled his big pranks, so it was a massive concern to him that he had been unable to do so in this instance.

Tenzo had explained to him that the area had been saturated with a lot of high density killing intent when he had first arrived at the scene. At first he had thought that the Kyuubi may have begun to leak, but upon further inspection that thought was immediately quashed. It was a much different chakra to the demon's, and Naruto was still unconscious to begin with.

The only viable theory that any of them could come up with was that the chakra was dense enough that it caused Naruto to freeze up.

Hiruzen cleared his throat, deciding that the silence had reigned over them long enough, and moved on to his main reason for calling on the ANBU at this late hour.

"So, I wanted to give you an update on how Naruto has been doing since you brought him in yesterday." He said, drawing the attention of his subject once more. "He's been stabilised, the injuries he sustained are minimal thanks to the Kyuubi's healing capabilities. The physical ones at least. His emotional state however, we can not be so sure about for the time being. He should wake up at some point in these 8 hours between now and tomorrow morning. It's up to you whether you want to be around when he does."

"It's best if I simply fade away. I doubt that he would remember me in the first place." He answered finally. "I was doing my job in protecting him, that's all."

This coaxed a small smile from the tired hokage, but it quickly faded.

"Come now Tenzo, that emotionless act doesn't suit you. I know you care for the boy." The sandaime said, gently rapping him on the head. "But, if that's what you wish for, then so be it."

"Yessir, it's best that it stays that way. May I take my leave now please?"

"Of course; but just one more thing. I've booked you in to the Yamanaka clinic for a mental fortitude evaluation." Hiruzen answered in a professional tone. "You might not feel like it but a scene like that can affect people in strange ways. I am also stepping you down to light duties for a while, as I feel that the incident is going to have at least _some_ form of a lasting effect; particularly given your past."

The man agreed with the evaluation. He'd seen as much in some of his peers during the gruelling training of ANBU initiation. But he certainly had something to say about his duties.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, I would like to continue taking post and guarding Naruto. I have learned my lesson from the mistakes I made, and I wish to step up and ensure I don't make them again." He raised a respectful hand when he saw the sandaime about to speak. "I also feel that, given the fact that the Kyuubi had made an appearance as the boy panicked, I ought to be on guard more, as I am better equipped to handle another breakout."

A new smile adorned Hiruzen's face at this, and stuck around for much longer than the first.

"You truly do hold the will of fire." He remarked happily. "Very well, I'll step up your duties- but not until Inoichi has cleared you as fit to work. Dismissed."

The ANBU left with a curt nod, closing the door behind him with a faint click. Little more than a second after his footsteps had faded away, Hiruzen slumped down, allowing his hokage mask to fall. It had been a very long time since he'd seen a crime taking place like this; and for it to happen to _His_ son too…

_'Forgive me, Minato. For I have failed to protect him once again.'_

he was getting too old for this stress.


	4. Root - 4

** Shoot - 4 **

_Iruka had seen so much of himself within the boy, that he had naturally found himself growing closer to him. He had begun to consider Naruto a younger brother to him; maybe even a son, and as such he refused to leave until he could make sure the boy was alright._

_He would be spending one sleepless night in that corridor, waiting with a heavy heart for the results of the next day's tests._

Iruka had not expected for one moment that he would be able to sleep that night. It was often difficult for him to get to sleep in his own room, so doing so in a place where there was constantly people moving around had been completely out of the question.

But somehow, he'd still managed to fall asleep.

The chuunin let out a small curse as he straightened up, feeling the aches and pains of the day before creep up on him. The migraine he'd predicted would happen had done so in full force, adding to the dull pain of his neck, which was sore from sleeping in such a rigid position. The blaring sunlight from the window before him certainly wasn't helping, either.

_'Just what time is it anyway?'_

He took a moment to stretch, feeling the relief as his back let out a number of cracks. But the relief was short lived as the movement triggered pain from his bruised ribs, forcing him to yelp and curl into himself slightly. The blanket that someone had been thoughtful enough to place over him in the night fell to a heap on the floor as he leaned forwards, wrapping one arm around his chest and moving to push his hitai-ate down over his eyes with the other. That was better.

Iruka didn't realise that someone was approaching him until they placed a hand on his head, startling him as he registered a "threat." He was about to lift his hitai-ate and ask what they were doing when the hand seemed to buzz softly, and the sharp pain of his migraine began to ebb away.

"We don't usually take a hands-on method to healing migraines as they tend to go away by themselves." The nurse told him, with a smile in her voice. "But after you helped save Naruto-kun, it's the least I can do to thank you."

Once the pain was little more than a dull ache, Iruka took a moment to take some of the painkillers he'd been given, before replacing his headband and looking at the person who'd helped him. She seemed pretty young to be a medic-nin, but then, some of the best medics started out young. She also seemed to have a slightly forced smile for some reason, prompting the chuunin to become worried about his student's results.

"Aah, don't worry. The tests this morning came back all clear. He has the fox to thank for that." She whispered, wary of the S-class secret she was mentioning. "But I'm just concerned about his mental state. That boy has been a ray of sunshine every time he's come here, but the last couple times he's just been so… dejected. It's hard to believe that he would do something so drastic as this."

Iruka nodded. He could understand where she was coming from, having taught him for the past few years.

"So how do you know him Iruka-san?"

The two of them talked for a while, sharing stories from the past of the loud boy they knew and loved. As it happened, the nurse, whose name was Koyaku, had been enlisted to Naruto's personal medical team by the hokage himself. The discrimination that the boy faced during his daily life seemed to stretch into his hospital treatment too; and as such, there were a few doctors within the establishment that would refuse to treat him properly. This sparked for the sandaime to bring around a team of medical experts he knew he could trust to keep Naruto safe, and ensured that at least one member of this team was present at the hospital at all times, in case of an emergency. Many of the nurses that were in Naruto's medical team also had jobs treating ANBU operatives and high-level shinobi, such was the level of trust among them.

Koyaku explained that she was the first person Naruto had spoken to from the team, when he had been brought to the hospital after spending three nights on the streets when he was only five years old. He'd been found in critical condition, and Koyaku had worked tirelessly to keep him from slipping into a coma. She'd come to care about the boy quite a lot after that; and she hoped to say that Naruto was the same. He tended to call her obasan quite a lot, so she had embraced said role whenever he was around.

The two had become absorbed in conversation, especially as Iruka explained how he felt like Naruto was the son he'd never had, despite the small age gap making that impossible. He found himself talking about the boy's best pranks like a proud (And slightly disgruntled) father, and before either of them realised, an hour had passed.

Koyaku had only been able to talk to Iruka for so long as it had been a quiet day, and she was on her lunch break. So when she received a message that she was needed elsewhere, she didn't have much other choice but to go.

"Thank you for the company, Iruka-san. It's been wonderful to hear all your stories about Naruto." She said, before turning to leave. But she hadn't taken more than a step forwards before she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned back to see the chuunin looking at her sheepishly, a pink tinge adorning his cheeks.

"Eh, Koyaku… what say we get something to eat some time? You know…" he stuttered.

"You mean, like a date?"

Iruka was startled into speechlessness when she said it. A date was exactly what he'd meant, but it was still strange to hear it out loud. Koyaku watched for a good thirty seconds, amused by the look on his face as he tried to think of what to say next, before taking pity and silencing him with her own hand on his shoulder.

"I'd love to." She answered with a smile, before leaving the shocked chuunin staring after her as she walked down the corridor to her next patient.

OoOoO

Iruka had gone for a run after that; he needed to clear his head of the shock of what had just happened. He'd originally intended to grab something to eat, having not actually eaten anything since the morning before. But as he jogged past Ichiraku's, he couldn't help but feel a little bit sick, as the events of the evening previous came back to mind. It just wouldn't feel right to eat ramen without Naruto in tow.

He'd not yet spoken to Hiruzen about everything that had happened yesterday, and for whatever reason he'd not turned up at the hospital either. He supposed that he would eventually have to speak to him, particularly to give his side of the story for the paperwork, but for the time being that was tomorrow's problem. Right now Iruka had not worked up enough of a sweat for his liking, so he decided to run a little more.

He wasn't too sure why, but after another half hour of running at a moderate speed, the chuunin had found himself standing before the memorial stone. It had been quite a while since he'd been here.

 _'While I'm here,'_ he thought to himself _'I might as well pay my respects.'_

When Iruka first used to visit this stone, the only names that held any kind of meaning to him were those of his mother and father. But as time went by, and he watched more and more of his comrades lose their lives fighting for Konoha, he found his list growing. Each addition was yet another blow to his heart, but every time it happened he would bounce back, and find the strength to carry on.

Every time, except for his last mission.

They'd known that it would be a high-risk mission; every one of them had been briefed on the dangers of what they were doing. But still they signed up to the assignment. It was a long, arduous mission, that took them all deep into enemy territory; where the slightest mistake would result in a long, drawn out death. Being captured too, was a high possibility. But they were all a bunch of teenagers who didn't really know any better. And so, they signed up.

Iruka could remember the scene vividly, even to this day. They had been ambushed by a group of missing-nin, not strong enough to be placed in the bingo books but not weak enough to simply be pushed aside. For the most part their team pushed them back, slaughtering enemy after enemy in a veritable bloodbath. But the foes kept coming, and eventually every one of Iruka's teammates lost their lives to the missing-nin.

It had taken maybe ten minutes, for both teams to decimate one another.

It was not uncommon for Iruka to find himself dissociating at the memorial. Perhaps not on the same level as Kakashi, but he did still often find that a half hour had passed within what seemed to be a few minutes. In all honesty, the chuunin had a feeling that the same would have happened on that day, had it not been for a familiar chakra signature drawing near.

Iruka had nothing against Kakashi; he just really wasn't in the mood to be making the usual small talk right now. So before the masked man could see him, the teacher made himself scarce; jogging away from the stone.

Perhaps he would pick up some ramen as takeout and surprise Naruto. That seemed like a better thing to do than jog aimlessly all day.

OoOoO

The first thing that registered in Naruto's mind when he woke up, was that someone was talking outside of his room. It was hard to hear what they were saying, as it was mostly blocked by the fact that the door was closed, But small snippets of conversation came through that made almost no sense to him as he listened.

"He was always painting… turned them bright orange once!" This was a male voice. Naruto was sure he'd heard that voice before, but with the muffling it was just so difficult to tell. He vaguely recognised the man's aura too.

"Ah-haha, that sounds like something he'd do." This voice was much clearer, and he could recognise it almost straight away. It was the kind nurse who was always around when he needed help. Koyaku. She was always very clear with her words and it sounded like she was closer to the door too, meaning it was much easier to understand what she was saying.

"It was a difficult time. He nearly slipped into a coma when that happened so we had to watch him twenty-four-seven."

"...got it rough, hasn't he?"

"That he has. I'm glad he's got people like us to care about him at least."

Naruto must have faded back to unconsciousness after that, as the next thing he remembered was the sound of someone entering the room quietly.

"Ah, so you're awake." The visitor remarked, sitting on the end of the boy's bed as he sat up. "That's going to make things easier. I don't like disturbing people's sleep"

The man sat before him was none other than Inoichi, clan head of the Yamanaka clan. While known well for his battle prowess, the blond was also better known for his in-depth knowledge of psychology. Though he was currently in charge of training a team of Yamanakas to work in counselling positions, he made a habit of personally attending to the higher-priority cases. He was one of the few people to know about Naruto's situation in full, and as such Hiruzen had entrusted him with the job of ensuring Naruto healed on the inside as well as the outside.

"I should imagine it's a bit of a stupid question but… how are you holding up?"

Naruto sighed. He already knew what to expect; Inoichi had done this once already, on the day that it had happened. He didn't mind the guy - in fact, he was one of the most polite people he knew. He had even told Naruto that he was welcome at the Yamanaka compound if he'd ever needed to talk, which was nice. Although, with Ino there, the boy just couldn't bring himself to even think about it.

"I'm sure you've worked out quite a lot already." Naruto muttered. It was hard for him to word these things.

"Well yes, that's fair enough. But I want to hear it from your point of view."

He swallowed. When there was such a mess going on within his head, where would he even start?

Inoichi could see that Naruto was struggling to words, and decided to intervene. "Do you want to go through some questions to sort through your thoughts?"

He received a nod in response.

"Okay… let's start with the basics. Ino has told me that you've been different lately, particularly that you seem to sleep in class a lot. Do you want to explain that?"

It was the perfect question. Naruto had to hand it to him, he knew exactly what to say to get the 'cogs' moving.

"I keep getting nightmares about what happened. All the time. And when I wake up I feel… nervous, I guess. I just can't get back to sleep afterwards. So when I get to class, I'm so tired that I just can't focus on the work. And I try so hard not to sleep, because I'm worried I'll have another nightmare, and I'm focusing so hard on not sleeping that I get distracted and fall asleep."

"That's understandable. You can't fight your body when it needs to sleep, no matter how anxious you are."

"I don't understand though. If it's so easy to fall asleep in class, why can't I go back to sleep when I'm at home?"

"You live alone, correct?" Another nod from Naruto. "When you wake up from a nightmare like that, you're stuck in a sense of panic. You know subconsciously that you're home alone, and anything could happen if he found you. So your brain doesn't let you sleep, because you don't feel safe."

"So I feel safe going to sleep at the academy because there are people around that wouldn't let anything happen to me…"

It was Inoichi's turn to nod this time, as he watched Naruto think it over. It was a simple reason for what had been happening, but it was often one that went unnoticed. He was going to ask another question, help to jog the boy's thoughts once more. But the older blond could see that he had something to say, and paused to let him word it out.

"I don't know how much longer I can cope with these nightmares." He said finally, the emotions clear on his face. "It was bad enough that it happened in the first place, but now I just can't get it out of my head. I have to see his face every single day. I can't escape him. I'm just so helpless all the time. I wanted to be hokage, I wanted to grow up and be a person that everyone acknowledges. But now I don't know what I want. I'm always looking around and wondering who I can and can't trust. It's horrible, I hate it so-"

But he was struggling to speak up as his emotions got the better of him, and his voice cracked. Naruto lowered his head as the tears built up, blurring his vision and threatening to spill over.

"And you came to the conclusion that there was only one way to escape the horror that hangs around you."

The statement hovered in the air like a dark cloud. It was true; he couldn't see any way out of it. He knew he was just so sick of it all, that he hadn't been thinking straight. And so he'd stolen alcohol and medication, distracted the ANBU that had been watching him with the kage bunshin jutsu that Iruka had taught him, and made an attempt on his own life.

It was laughable, really.

"How did I come to be here anyway?" He needed to change the subject. It was too much to be talking about these things so soon after waking up.

"I heard from the sandaime that he was talking to Iruka. He told me that Iruka had suddenly had a bad feeling, and left to check up on you. He tracked you down when you weren't at home and managed to save you just in time. That's all I know."

This worried Naruto more than anything, though. Did his sensei find out?

"Not that I know of." Inoichi replied when he stated his concerns. "I know that he asked the sandaime if there was anything he should know, just before the shit hit the fan last night - ah, sorry, pardon my language - But Hiruzen is taking the same approach to anyone who doesn't _need_ to know. He said that it's up to you and you only to tell him what's going on."

That was a relief. It wasn't that Naruto didn't want him to know; in fact he wanted him to know more than anything. But something was stopping him. He just couldn't work out what it was.

"I know everything I need to now, to write a report to the sandaime for you." The man continued. "I can explain to him what you've told me so that you don't have to go through it again. Now… before I move on to the next subject is there anything else you want to talk about?"

At first the boy was ready to tell him no, that was everything. But he realised, there was still something bothering him, deep down. Describing the feeling though… that was a different story.

"I don't know how to explain it…" He said tentatively.

Luckily Inoichi knew a jutsu that would help with this. He used it quite a lot on younger patients, so it wasn't a big surprise to him that he would need to use it now. He held his hand out to the boy, requesting that he take it and grasp gently, and keep the strange feeling in his immediate thoughts.

"This jutsu is going to dig into your immediate thought patterns. It's going to let me see exactly what you are currently thinking. But don't worry, this jutsu was designed to pass information between two _willing_ participants. Only the things you want me to see are going to show through."

Naruto nodded at this, more or less understanding what he meant, and placed his hand into Inoichi's. The man put his remaining hand into a half ram seal, and the jutsu began to work.

It felt like there was a thought process in Naruto's mind that wasn't his own, somehow. It was strange, but since he already knew what it was about he didn't feel scared. As soon as he felt it, he began his own work on concentrating on the feeling deep within him, and guiding Inoichi towards it.

The man's brow was furrowed as he deciphered what he was seeing, before his eyes widened and he suddenly began to laugh heartily.

Naruto wanted to be angry at Inoichi for laughing at him, but after the low mood that had been enveloping them, the laughter really was rather contagious. The boy found himself grinning along with the man, even despite the fact that he didn't know why.

His questions would be answered pretty soon, however, as Inoichi finally calmed down.

"You truly are one special kid" He remarked with a smile. "Of the hundreds - even thousands of people I've spoken to in similar situations to yourself; you're the first person that I've ever come across that's dominated by so much caring for other people!"

Naruto didn't quite understand what he meant.

"What I'm saying is despite the difficulties you've faced recently, the main thing that's bothering you is how someone else is feeling, I couldn't find out who, but there is clearly someone in your life right now that you feel very close to." Inoichi elaborated. This was all Naruto needed to understand exactly what, and who, the man was talking about, and the explanation had brought a memory to his mind.

_"And I want you to know that I'm always here. You're always welcome to come and talk to me. I know how it feels to have those nightmares - I have them myself. I… I had to stop being a shinobi because of it. But there is a way out of it, Naruto. I promise you. No matter how painful it is, whatever's happened to you… you'll make it through. I believe in you."_

He'd had a feeling at the time, that his sensei was hiding something. The way that Iruka had stuttered, almost as if he was rewording his sentence, had brought up a couple of red flags, but he'd just been too wrapped up in his own issues to pursue them, and he had been too taken aback by his encouragement to give it too much thought afterwards.

"Inoichi… what do you know about Iruka-sensei?" He asked, more out of curiosity than anything.

The older blond had been able to put two and two together when he mentioned this, figuring that he was the person Naruto cared for so much. But as Iruka had been a patient of his in the past, he was bound by the confidentiality clause not to give away any information. It sucked, but it was the law.

"Because of confidentiality I can't really tell you much. Any information I could give you, would be the stuff you'd already know from talking to him in general."

That made sense to the boy, and he chose not to push it any further. After all, Naruto's own incident had remained a secret by that same clause, so he'd have no right in the first place to question it.

Inoichi was satisfied with Naruto's state of mind, and with his reasons for going to hospital. As far as the older blond was concerned, they weren't a direct risk to his health. But the third subject that he needed to analyse was marginally more important than the others, and it was often the one that patients within the same category as Naruto were lacking in. Safety.

He began with a simple question, aimed to ease the boy in to the new topic.

"What do you plan to do when you're discharged from here then?" He asked, keeping his tone light and conversational where he could to put him at ease.

The boy looked down for a moment, frowning at the question. He really hadn't thought further than the bottle of pills he'd had in his hand.

"Do you still want to be hokage when you grow up?"

"Yes." He sighed. "Definitely. But…"

"But you're worried that you won't have the strength to keep fighting?"

"That's… I suppose that's half of it. But I'm also worried that I'll lose it and try to end my life again. I wasn't thinking straight yesterday, it was like there was someone else controlling me. I don't want to die. I want to grow up and make everyone respect me. But when I get really upset it's like I stop caring about that."

Inoichi had had a feeling that this might be the case. It was a common occurrence for people who have gone through trauma to develop a side to them that was very different from their normal selves. Generally with older patients it was easy for them to reach out for help if they got like that, and younger patients tended to live with parents who could keep an eye on them. But Naruto was on his own, and so he had no one to keep an eye on him like that.

"That's all I need to know." the older blond told him. "But in light-"

He paused as he sensed someone outside the door. Naruto seemed to sense them too, as he had straightened up and looked towards it with a slight crease in his brow. It was the same person that was talking outside of his room when he had woken up before.

But as Inoichi had entered the room, he had put a sign onto the door to explain that Naruto was in a private meeting for the time being. He was confident that the visitor would wait outside.

"Don't worry, there's a sign on the door." He continued, lowering his voice slightly in case the visitor was listening in. "Anyway, in light of what you've told me, I'm going to have to request that the hokage find you someone to live with for a while, just until you get back on your feet."

Naruto's face had turned incredulous at this, as he registered what the man was saying.

"Your circumstances are relatively unique, given that you are on your own most of the time. So generally there's no one to keep an eye on you if you get to that stage of depression again."

"No one apart from the ANBU" The boy muttered under his breath.

"O-oh… you know about them?"

"Not really. I had my suspicions;" Naruto answered, a hint of a smirk crossing his face. "But you've just confirmed them for me."

Inoichi was frustrated with himself for falling for that trick, but it was soon replaced with a mild sense of awe as his patient explained how he had come to suspect as much.

Naruto hadn't told anyone about his ability to sense people; primarily because he didn't really think it mattered. With every prank that the boy had pulled, he had found that he was gradually becoming more aware of the people around him. He had taken to calling these chakra signatures 'auras,' because they sounded so much cooler that way. It had eventually become clear to him that everyone's aura was slightly different, and it was this that had led him to discover that he was often being tailed.

Naruto's ability to sense people's auras, was relatively flawed because of his lack of understanding regarding the subject. If there was a person nearby, he would feel how close they were based on the strength of their signature, but he would not be able to sense exactly where they were based on that feeling. He just knew that they were somewhere in the vicinity.

Of course since he could sense the auras of multiple people around him, just knowing that someone is nearby was not sufficient proof to know he was being followed. But when he was going about his day, and the same chakra signature was constantly in his range, that's when he got suspicious. Surely it wouldn't be a coincidence that someone was within range of his perception for _a whole day?_

The pattern had continued a few times, and eventually Naruto had built a catalogue of signatures that he would recognise whenever they were in the area. Most of them remained as that - merely signatures that the boy couldn't put a name or face to. But there were rare occasions when an ANBU member with a recognisable signature would appear during a separate mission, and he would catch a glimpse of them traversing rooftops. He could generally work out that the aura belonged to them, as it would gradually get stronger and then weaker as the ANBU member passed him by.

The only issue Naruto had with his ability was the fact that he had slipped into a habit of ignoring any other signatures that weren't constantly in his range. Because of this, he often struggled to recognise chakra signatures even of the people he was closest to.

The boy had gone off on quite a tangent as he talked about his ability, and it wasn't long before the timer that Inoichi had set on his wristwatch had begun to beep.

"That's time. Sorry Naruto, I have another appointment in ten so we're going to have to wrap this up quickly." He said as he cancelled the timer.

Naruto was shocked. He hadn't realised that an hour had passed already!

"So I'm going to write a report on what you've told me, I'll explain it to the hokage for you, and I'm requesting that he find you someone to shack up with for a while. Is that alright?"

"Well the whole house thing I'm not so sure about. I don't want to be a bother for anyone. But… you're not giving me a choice on that, are you?"

Inoichi simply laughed. "If the sandaime suggests otherwise then it's fine by me, but I will be letting him know that it's for the best that your housing is changed. I can't see him disagreeing with it.

"Anyway, it's been good to catch up with you, Naruto; even if the circumstances weren't great. Like I said last time, you're always welcome at the Yamanaka compound if you need to chat. I can ask Ino to take care of the flower shop if you do - I know you don't get along with her very well."

Naruto nodded his thanks, and shook hands with the older blond, who then turned to leave. He greeted the person outside on his way out; leaving Naruto slapping his palm to his face when he realised that that oh-so familiar chakra signature belonged to his sensei. He should have known...

As Iruka entered the room, Naruto's eyes immediately lit up upon spying the bag in his hand. There was only one place that packaged their produce in bags like that, and they also just so happened to sell the most delicious ramen in the whole world!

"Sorry, I didn't realise you'd be in a meeting so it might be on the little cool side." He remarked, occupying the space where Inoichi had been.

But Naruto didn't care; it was delicious all the same. The boy slurped his ramen happily, chatting to Iruka about how the morning had planned out. Obviously he'd avoided talking about the incident, and about being worried for him, but he explained everything else.

"You know, I have a spare room at my house." The chuunin mentioned, after Naruto had finished talking. "When I lost my parents they left the house to me, and because they owned it I didn't have to pay any rent. So even though there was too much space for me there I decided to stay."

"That sounds cool," Naruto said, oblivious to where his sensei was trying to go with this. "I get rent for my apartment from the hokage."

Iruka shook his head, smiling at his inability to take a hint.

"What I'm trying to say is - if you're okay with it - you can stay with me for a while."


	5. Root - 5

**Shoot - 5**

_"You know, I have a spare room at my house." The chuunin mentioned, after Naruto had finished talking. "When I lost my parents they left the house to me, and because they owned it I didn't have to pay any rent. So even though there was too much space for me there I decided to stay."_

_"That sounds cool," Naruto said, oblivious to where his sensei was trying to go with this. "I get rent for my apartment from the hokage."_

_Iruka shook his head, smiling at his inability to take a hint._

_"What I'm trying to say is - if you're okay with it - you can stay with me for a while."_

Naruto had just drank the last of the soup in his container, and promptly choked. Iruka laughed, clapping him on the back to help him regain his composure, before ducking as a set of chopsticks were flung in his direction.

"No fair, sensei! I wanted to enjoy that last bit!" the boy grumbled. But before he could continue his complaints the reason for his spluttering surfaced once more. "Well… I guess it would be nicer to stay with you than with someone else…"

"Oh, so I'm only good because everyone else is worse, huh?" Iruka teased, pretending to be offended. But Naruto didn't realise he was joking, and he started stammering a response. "I was joking!" He said with a smile, cutting off the boy's rambling.

"O-oh" He answered. "...But to be honest with you... there's no one I'd like to stay with more, since I don't really have a choice."

The teacher was, in a way, honoured that Naruto felt like that. But the statement also sparked a pang of sorrow as he realised something.

_"I hope you have someone like that, Naruto. Somebody you can talk to. Somebody who can give you a hug when you need it and tell you that you're going to be okay; that you're going to get through it."_

Iruka had ignored the boy for the best part of three years, harbouring a sense of hatred towards him because of what the Kyuubi had done to his parents. By the time he'd realised otherwise, Naruto had already built up a wall against him; and it had taken months for him to encourage the blonde to let him in.

Even after that, they hadn't been particularly close. Over the two years that they began to know each other, Naruto had still retained a closed attitude, and the sensei couldn't get him to open up regardless of how many times he'd bought him food or helped him with tests. It had only been after the boy's sudden change that he had begun to realise just how close he felt to him. With his own experiences overshadowing him, Iruka had renewed his attempts to get the boy to open up, even going as far as teaching him to use the Kage Bunshin. But still he didn't respond.

If Iruka was the person that Naruto trusted the most, then that spoke volumes as to how lonely the poor kid must be.

OoOoO

[One month later]

Getting used to living with his sensei was a pretty strange experience for Naruto. Having spent most of his childhood living alone, he really had no idea what it would be like when he first moved in. But to his surprise, difficult as it was, he found himself enjoying the company more and more.

When he lived at his old apartment, Naruto had been forced to pay over-the-top rent prices set by the mean old woman who was his landlord. On top of that he had to pay his water bills; he could only thank his lucky stars that at least the electricity was on a meter, meaning that the old bat wouldn't be able to tamper with those prices. Once he'd paid all of his dues he had very little money left to pay for any food, so he'd spent his money on the cheapest option available - cup ramen.

With no more rent to pay, and Iruka steadfastly refusing to accept money for utility bills or food, Naruto found himself with around ten thousand ryo per month to spend on whatever he wanted. On Iruka's suggestion he began saving most of it up, putting it into a frog-shaped money bank that he'd been gifted. The rest of it he'd used to buy a kunai - which the shopkeeper had demanded a huge price for - and slept with it underneath his pillow for defence purposes. He knew it wouldn't do much but it still gave him peace of mind to know he would at least be able to defend himself better than if he was unarmed.

**[A/N I looked up conversions, and the current conversions for 1 GBP, my currency, to ryo is around 26. So I'm working on the basis that Naruto would have the equivalent of ~£400 per month, with 200 spent on rent, 100 on water and 50 on electricity, leaving him £50 (1250 ryo) for food. Assuming ramen costs 50p (£0.5) that means Naruto would be able to afford around 2 ramen cups per day, and it would leave him a few pounds to spend on milk/whatever else he needed.]**

Not that the kunai had made any kind of difference to the boy's mental state. Night after night he would be stricken by nightmares, some bad enough to cause him to shoot up out of bed, yelling in fear. Oftentimes Iruka rushed in to make sure he was okay, holding his hand and stroking his head until he was able to return to sleep. His comforting actions had been wonderful for Naruto, but after he came to realise that it was having an adverse effect on his sensei, who struggled to function on the long-term sleep deprivation, he had convinced him not to keep coming to his aid.

But just because Iruka was no longer coming to the boy's aid, it didn't mean that the chuunin didn't wake up each time it happened. Because of his experience as a shinobi, Iruka had long since been conditioned to always be alert for danger. But this useful conditioning was both a blessing and a curse; as it caused him to be alert even when he was trying to sleep. He often woke up in the night, even if it was for something as small as an owl flying past his window. So hearing Naruto jump out of bed certainly served to interrupt his sleep.

Every now and then Iruka would hear Naruto have a particularly bad dream, and he would remain awake for most of the night following said dream, pacing back and forth as though trying to walk his memories away. It was during times like this that he found his heart breaking a little bit inside, as he thought about what must be going through his mind.

On one such occasion, Iruka was just falling back to sleep when Naruto's pacing changed. This was nothing out of the ordinary, as the boy often switched from sitting on his bed to pacing around. But it still caused his hyperalert body to perk up again. The chuunin was just turning over in bed when he paused, listening to the boy's actions. He hadn't gone to sit on his bed as he usually would, but instead had put on some clothing, slid open the window and left the room as quietly as possible.

OoOoO

_'I'm being followed._ ' Naruto thought to himself as he walked down the street. Well, it wasn't 100% possible that he was being followed, but he knew he recognised the signature from somewhere. It felt like that of an ANBU who used to tail him when he was very young, but it had been a very long time since he'd felt it so he couldn't be sure. There was another signature mixed into it too, which meant that there were probably two people quite close to each other. The other signature was really familiar too, but he just couldn't put his finger on it-

A memory surfaced in Naruto's mind, putting the pieces together.

'This is Iruka-sensei's aura.' Naruto thought to himself, remembering when he had been in the hospital and not recognised the signature. 'I really need to pay more attention to the people around me…'

He chose to continue walking as if he hadn't sensed the chuunin; he really wasn't up for a conversation at that exact moment. The boy knew that he would have to talk to him eventually, but for the time being he was content to slowly walk, and collect his thoughts for when he arrived at the location he was heading to.

Ten minutes later, Naruto had settled down, perching atop the great stone carving of the fourth hokage. He felt the two auras come closer, but they made no attempt to show themselves.

For a long time, the boy just stared out at the expanse of buildings below him. To the untrained eye, it looked as though he was simply enjoying the view; but to those who were trained to pick up on the small details, it was pretty clear that he was deep in thought.

"I know you're there." He stated eventually.

For a few moments, nothing happened. But then, all of a sudden, the ANBU's aura faded, and Iruka jumped up from his hiding place on the cliffside beneath him.

"So, you can sense chakra." the chuunin stated plainly as he sat beside Naruto. "I'm quite surprised - that was an ANBU-level chakra concealment, there aren't many people who can recognise it. You've the nose of a fox!"

Naruto tensed up as he heard this, memories stirring within him.

_"Well hello there, little fox."_

He shook his head as though to rid himself of the vision, before hunching forwards slightly. The actions had not gone unnoticed by Iruka, whose eyes had widened as he realised that his words had had such a reaction. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder, hoping to provide him a little comfort, but almost regretted it when he flinched at the contact.

A long silence stretched between them, as both boy and man considered what to say next. They seemed to come to a conclusion at the same time.

"Iruka…"

"Naruto…"

They paused once more, sharing a small smile at the irony of the situation. But any amusement was quickly lost in the tension enveloping them. Iruka motioned for Naruto to go first, as his omission of the usual "-sensei" honorific had sent a chill down his spine. The boy had never spoken to him in such a serious manner before.

"I… I've been thinking, sensei." Naruto hesitated, a mixture of emotions flowing through him. But he steeled himself. "You should know… about what happened to me."

The chuunin had wondered if the boy would ever tell him what had happened. He could feel some kind of adrenaline rush pulsing within him as he listened to what he had to say next.

"You know when I used to challenge myself, and try to get home from the academy as fast as possible?" He started tentatively. Iruka simply nodded. "Well… because so many people seem to hate me I generally ran through backalleys. Otherwise they kept trying to trip me up, and getting in my way, ya know?

"Anyway… I was trying a new route. I'd looked at it before but kept forgetting until I'd ran past it already. It was a lot… darker than the usual ones. But it was also a lot faster. I got to a dead end at one point, so I used a dumpster to vault over the fence and I overshot it and turned the corner… and there was a man there. He… He said-"

Naruto paused for a moment as his voice broke. He hunched forwards a little more, far enough that his hair fell down across his face, as the goggles that usually kept it in place were absent.

"I couldn't move. I could have got away from him but my body wouldn't listen to me. I just sat there until he-" A sob choked his words off as tears began to well up, threatening to spill over. "It hurt so much, sensei. So, so much. I never felt anything worse. I tried to get him to stop. I begged him. But he wouldn't stop. He wouldn't stop! He just kept hurting me!"

The boy was struggling to get his words out, as he had begun to shake violently. He paused once more, and took a deep breath, at least slightly calming his nerves.

"When he finally left I- I tried to move. I wanted to get up but my body still wouldn't work. Then someone touched my shoulder and… I thought it was him again. I had a surge of energy, I was trying to fight back. Then… all I remember was a mask. Then I woke up at the hokage's office…"

Iruka figured he understood what he was trying to say, but he wanted to be sure. "So he… beat you up really bad, then?"

The chuunin was shocked to hear the boy let out an ironic laugh. The emotions he'd been struggling to keep in check had vanished; an empty shell in its place. There were still tears streaming down his face, but his expression was devoid of emotion. He spoke with a calmness that Iruka had never heard from him before.

"No, Iruka-sensei… he didn't beat me up. He raped me."

The chuunin gasped, as the pieces fell into place. He couldn't help but pull Naruto into a tight hug, his eyes hard as he processed what the boy had just told him. The momentary numbness that the blond had experienced fading almost as quickly as it came. As the painful feeling in his chest returned, Naruto chose to bury his face in Iruka's jacket as he cried once more.

OoOoO

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. The last thing he remembered was telling Iruka about what had happened to him, and now he was here. Where was he, anyway?

His vision was impaired by the darkness enshrouding him; limiting his sight to mere centimeters before him. The boy could barely make out the shape of his hand help before his face, let alone anything else.

Bending down, Naruto first examined the floor. It seemed to be some kind of stone, covered in an inch or so of water. The blackness stretched in all directions, with no walls or other landmarks for him to discern his location. The water he was stood in seemed to have a current, pulling gently forwards. Since this was his only clue as to where to go, the blond decided that it would be best to follow the current and see where it led.

It took little more than a minute for him to discover a soft light bleeding through the darkness. Following the current must have been the right thing to do, as Naruto found the light becoming brighter as he came closer to it; and eventually shapes began to form. Huge metal bars as thick as he was, and taller than he could see were placed before him. The gaps between them were far too large to keep anyone - Or anything, for that matter, - trapped.

The darkness around him seemed to fade all at once, revealing what looked like a huge gate towering far above him. But the gate was the least of Naruto's worries, as he discerned a huge shadow behind the gate, easily taller than even the hokage monument.

**"Finally."** A voice bellowed from behind the cage. **"Do you realise how long I have been trying to contact you?"**

The voice was deep, booming. There was a kind of growl to it, which would normally have shaken Naruto up. But strangely enough he felt… comfortable, in some sense of the word. Like he was somewhere he'd been a hundred times before - he supposed it was like his apartment, really. He'd been completely terrified of that place to begin with, with its slamming doors and its noisy generators. But after a while he'd gradually begun to get used to the noises that had him so scared in the first place.

**"Tch. Do not ignore me."** The voice continued, after Naruto offered it no reply. The shadow before him began to shrink, melting into itself like hot wax. The boy watched in awe as the dark mass reduced into the shadows behind it, until a man walked out towards him.

Well, he said it was a man, but in fact it seemed more of a fox-human hybrid. He looked a bit like an older version of Naruto, with the same golden hair and the same shaped eyes and jawline. He even had the same whisker marks as Naruto did, although they were much thicker and more prominent… and made of fur. In fact, the whole of the man's body was covered in short orange fur - long enough that it made his face seem slightly fuzzy, but short enough that it took a second glance for anyone to realise what it was. The fur seemed to blend into a darker black-brown colour, creating a much more contrasting set of whisker marks than Naruto's were. There was also a dark patch around each of the man's eyes, in a sort of skewed diamond shape, the outer corners of each trailing across to the side of his head, and creating a line on his pointed ears. His canines were elongated, long enough that they were unable to rest within his mouth; and poked over his bottom lip. The being's hands were covered in the same fur that marked the rest of his body, with each nail coming to a sharp point, like a set of knives.

Behind him, eight tails weaved around slowly, their size seeming to dwarf him in comparison. They seemed to somehow all protrude from the base of his back. A ninth tail was curved around him; curling right from his lower back (To the man's left), around his front. The tip rested on his right, essentially creating a kind of barrier around him. A loose fitting black shirt was peeking from underneath a blood red cloak, with black cargo pants to match. The cloak was stitched and lined in thick gold thread rather than the usual black, giving it a brighter colouring to contrast the clothing beneath it. It perfectly matched the man's eyes, which were also a terrifying blood-red colour, with tiny golden specks. His pupils were vertical slits, which seemed to add to the anxiety building in Naruto's stomach.

Despite his intimidating visual appearance, the man's body language suggested that he was rather bored. His face was almost completely expressionless, with the exception of a tick mark that was forming above his left eye, on account of being ignored by the boy before him.

Naruto gathered all of the courage he could muster, and stood to face the man-fox-thing.

"Who are you and why am I here?" He said in a clear voice. But there was a slight wobble to it that betrayed his fear. The being before him smirked at his bravado, but the grin was soon lost as he grew bored.

**"Straight up with the questions."** He remarked bitterly, taking another step closer to the gate. Naruto stood firm, although the quivering in his left leg told the being that that was the last thing the boy wanted to do.

"W-Well, are you going to answer me or not?"

**"Insolent child!"** He yelled suddenly, making Naruto flinch. **"You dare to disrespect me, even after you called on me for help?"**

This certainly confused him. As far as he could remember, Naruto had never met this… man in his life, let alone asked for his assistance in something. Just what was he playing at?

That was when he noticed - the man was keeping his distance from the gate. Even his tails, which were weaving around above him in all directions, would shy away as soon as they came even close to the bars. He was trapped, and the boy had nothing to fear.

"Pff, what's with the attitude, Kitsune? You and I both know you're trapped in there."

Naruto allowed himself to entertain a small feeling of triumph as the man scowled menacingly at him. But the scowl lasted for little more than a few moments, as his face suddenly relaxed once more, before his mouth curled up into a lazy smile.

**"Such a… pity."** He drawled, slowing down his speech for effect. **"Here was me, thinking that you would like to know about the man who hurt you! I guess I must have been wrong."**

"Y-You know who did this?" The boy asked, some kind of panic rising within him. Had he just screwed up his only chance?

The man just smiled knowingly, turning his back to the gate. Relishing in the way Naruto had begun to sweat profusely.

"Teme!" the younger blond called out, panic giving way to seething anger. "Tell me what you know now!"

But the man was walking away, fading into the shadows…

"STOP!" He yelled, stepping forwards as he tried one last-ditch attempt to get his attention.

Big mistake.

The man stopped, one of his tails shooting out towards Naruto. It passed straight through the gate, wrapping around his throat and lifting him from the ground. The gate faded out of view, to be replaced with an exact replica of itself; only it was a meter further forwards than it had been. He'd been tricked!

He lashed out as best he could, reaching for his weapons pouch. But it wasn't there - he'd neglected to put it on after leaving Iruka's house that night. Naruto had little else he could do other than punch at the massive tail, but as he attempted a right uppercut, he found his wrist caught by a second tail, restraining him. The same happened with his left arm, and he soon found himself completely bound by the tails around him.

At some point during the struggle the tail that was wrapped around his neck had stopped squeezing, instead just sitting loosely on his shoulders. It was a warning; as clear as if the man had held a kunai to his throat. It said to him, _'If you continue to struggle, I'll cut off your breathing.'_

The man turned around, his tails parting for him to do so. The bored expression had returned once more, and he was calmly observing the younger blond.

**"This is what is going to happen."** He dictated to his captive. **"I'm going to talk, and you are going to listen. If you so much as breathe too loudly while I'm talking, you're going to regret it."**

Naruto nodded slowly. He wanted - no, he needed to get information about who had hurt him. And if that meant that he had to submit to a crazy fox-man-thing then he'd damn well do so.

**"First of all, I am the Kyuubi no Yoko, otherwise known as the nine-tailed demon fox."**

_'Gee,'_ Naruto thought to himself, his inner voice dripping with sarcasm _. 'I wonder why?'_

**"I was sealed within your body by the yondaime, before you were even an hour old."**

The younger blond froze at this - well, if you could even call it that; he hadn't been moving in the first place. He just couldn't understand what the heck this Kyuubi was trying to get at. Wouldn't he have noticed if there was a massive fox inside of him? Surely he would have noticed. He must be lying, that's the only possible conclusion.

**"If you do not wish to believe me,"** The Kyuubi continued, after Naruto offered no response. **"Then that is your prerogative. But you will soon find out the truth if you asked that teacher of yours."**

Naruto had no idea what to say to that, so he just made a note and moved on. It was obvious that the fox had info, so right now he was more focused on getting to that than debating about whether a 340 foot chakra construct was residing within his gut.

**"Now I want to make one thing absolutely certain."** His voice had grown much more serious than before. **"I owe you nothing. Any information I give you is for my benefit, and mine only. As it happens, The man who did this to you crossed paths with me a long time ago. But I was unable to do anything about it then, as I was still sealed into the jinchuuriki who came before you.**

**"You are simply the means to an end. I want him dead, and you want your revenge."**

In the blink of an eye, Naruto found himself stood once more in front of the gate that held the Kyuubi captive. It was as though the fight beforehand hadn't even happened in the first place.

**"But you are weak. You cannot even dispel a simple genjutsu."** The Kyuubi spat, clearly displeased. **"If you expect me to give you free power the moment you snap your fingers then you are severely mistaken. I only reached out that time because I did not wish to watch that scum enjoy himself once more."**

When had that happened? The only time that would match up with what he was saying… was when he woke up after the assault. But then, hadn't he felt a rush of power coursing through him when he'd begun to panic?

**"I see no point in giving you information right now. You are worthless. You would only get yourself killed if I told you anything. Huh, honestly it is no surprise at all that he could so easily have his way with you. You should be ashamed."**

The words stung almost as much as if he'd been physically punched. Naruto's fists were clenched, his fingernails pressing into his palms hard enough to draw blood. But he couldn't bring himself to feel angry - everything the fox was saying was true. After all, he'd let the man force himself on him. And he had stopped fighting against his attacker when the pain came. He was less than ten meters away from a busy street as he was violated, and yet he still hadn't brought himself to scream for help when he had been caught in the first place.

No, the Kyuubi was right. He really was worthless.

"Then how am I supposed to get better?" He asked shakily. Despite what the fox had said earlier about not helping him, he still wanted to test his luck.

**"Tch. Did I not just tell you that I would not be helping you?"** Came the predictable response. **"I have lived for thousands of years; another few years are nothing to me. If you do not wish to help yourself out then I shall just wait until you ultimately die as a result of your incompetence, and hope that the next vessel is more useful.**

**"You have come close to a source of education already. If you were to just concentrate more, you would realise that the answer you seek is right under your nose. Open your eyes, instead of leaving them closed and complaining about the dark.**

**"I bore of this conversation."** The Kyuubi finished. **"From now on, listen for my voice. If I call for you I expect you to answer immediately. Meditate while concentrating on this cage. You will make it here eventually."**

Before Naruto could protest, the scene before him began to fade, until it was completely out of his vision. A rushing sensation grew within his mind, getting louder and louder, until suddenly it stopped, and he found himself laying in bed, staring at the ceiling he'd come to know well over the last month.

Whatever had just happened, Naruto was back where he should be. And boy, did he have a lot of questions for his sensei.

OoOoO

Iruka had just been plating two omelettes as he entered the kitchen, rubbing gound from his eyes. The chuunin looked up at him as he did, mildly surprised at his timing. He was just about to go wake the boy up when he came in.

There was a look on his face, too. A gleam of pity in the man's eyes that hadn't been quite so prominent until he'd told him about the incident. That look, it was one of the things Naruto hated the most about people knowing. It was almost worse than the looks that the villagers gave him all the time.

To begin with, Naruto sat and ate more or less in silence, as he tried to arrange his chaotic thoughts. Eventually he came up with a small list of questions, and decided to start with the simplest one.

"Iruka, what's a jinchuuriki?"

The man in question paused, his fork hovering in the air as he registered what the blond had said.

"A J-jinchuuriki, you say?"

Naruto hummed in affirmation, noting the stutter as Iruka spoke. The chuunin hesitated, seeming to choose his words carefully, before giving him the answer.

"Well, a jinchuuriki is a person who has a bijuu, a tailed beast, sealed inside them. It's similar to the concept of sealing scrolls I showed you in class last year."

Truth be told Naruto hadn't really been paying much attention in that class, so he only knew the very basics. But it was enough to understand as much as he needed.

"So, what are these 'bijuu?' Is the Kyuubi one of them?"

"Y-yes, the Kyuubi is a bijuu. Why the sudden interest anyway, Naruto? I thought you weren't really interested in history or anything." Iruka replied, trying to change the subject. But the boy wasn't allowing it.

"Well… I'm not, really. I just heard the word in a conversation yesterday and wanted to check it out."

This caught Iruka's attention, even if just for a moment. Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki was strictly an S-class secret, and if anyone was found to have been leaking said secret, chances are they'd be given a death sentence. So, naturally, the chuunin's next question aimed to coax a name from the boy.

"Oh, that's interesting. Not many people know about terms like that; who were you talking to?"

Naruto didn't reply for a moment, as he was finishing his last bite of omelette.

"I heard it…" He began, once he'd finished chewing. "From the Kyuubi himself."

Iruka failed to suppress a gasp at this, proceeding to choke on the piece of omelette he'd just put in his mouth. By the time he managed to regain control of his breathing, the shock of Naruto's statement had worn off; and he was able to consider the more appropriate questions.

"Why did it tell you that?" He asked first, figuring it was the best question to start off with.

"He told me that he had information about the person who… you know." The boy responded. "But he tricked me. Put me under a genjutsu, and released me after because I didn't realise it was there. He said that I was weak… that I was worthless. And he's refusing to tell me anything about the guy until I'm strong enough."

Naturally the chuunin had a lot to say about that, but Naruto waved him off as soon as he started to talk; saying that what the Kyuubi said was true, he didn't have to comfort him. He wasn't very happy with that response, but since the boy himself said that it wasn't a big deal, he chose to leave it.

"So did it tell you anything else?" Iruka changed the subject. "Other than that you're weak, I mean."

"Sort of. I asked him how I can get stronger."

"And what did it say?"

"He said…" But tiny snippets of memories were surfacing in his consciousness, distracting him as he started to put the pieces together.

_'"You have come close to a source of education already. If you were to just concentrate more, you would realise that the answer you seek is right under your nose"'_

_'but he knew he recognised the signature from somewhere. It felt like that of an ANBU who used to tail him when he was very young, but it had been a very long time since he'd felt it '_

_'But then, all of a sudden, the ANBU's aura faded, and Iruka jumped up from his hiding place on the cliffside beneath him.'_

_'"So, you can sense chakra. I'm quite surprised - that was an ANBU-level chakra concealment, there aren't many people who can recognise it."'_

Naruto gasped, prompting Iruka to ask if he was okay.

How had he not realised this before? It was so obvious now that he knew what to look for!

He could have sworn that he heard a gruff voice from within his mind, remarking that it had taken long enough, but that might have just been his imagination.

His mind whirring with the possibilities that this theory opened up, Naruto turned to his sensei with a small glimmer in his eye, and an expression that seemed to be a cross between bewilderment and awe.

"Iruka-sensei..." He mumbled incredulously. "You're from ANBU!"


	6. Growth 1 - Pranking

Growth 1: Pranking

_"Iruka-sensei..." He mumbled incredulously. "You're from ANBU!"_

The chuunin spluttered as he said it, more or less confirming his suspicions.

"How- how did you know?" He asked, his eyes almost as wide as Naruto's.

He could do little more than sit back in his chair in awe as the boy explained how he came to this realisation. He'd always found it pretty easy to pretend his ANBU past didn't exist - particularly because he wished as much himself. Not one of his peers had worked out that he was an operative, even after seeing his battle prowess in full form. Well, actually, Kakashi-senpai had connected the dots, but he didn't really count. The jounin had left ANBU around the same time as Iruka joined, so it wasn't hard for him to spot that the chuunin's body language was slowly changing to match that of his former colleagues.

But besides that, not one single person had come to the realisation that he was an ANBU operative. Not one… except Naruto. The dead last at the academy, who couldn't get a grasp on the simplest of subjects, had been able to work out a secret that no one else was able to, with such little information.

...Or was it that Iruka had let his guard down around the boy because of his situation, and let too many things slip?

Not that that really mattered now. Naruto knew his secret and that was that. The question now, was what he would do with that information.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." He began, seeming to sense Iruka's unspoken question. "You're keeping my secret so it's only fair I keep yours."

This caused the former ANBU a pang of sadness, as he remembered the events of the night before.

"But… Iruka-sensei?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Can you train me like an ANBU?"

The question was a predictable one, but coming from someone like Naruto it was also somehow unpredictable at the same time.

"I want to be strong. I want to have enough power to protect people from bad guys. And I want to one day find and kill _him._ " Naruto elaborated when prompted. "But first I want to become an ANBU. It's the fastest way to be strong, right?"

Iruka agreed that yes, it was the best way to get strong. He remarked inwardly, that the discipline he'd learn while in their ranks would do him good, too. But he still had his reservations.

"Naruto… you do know that the ANBU are generally directed to missions that are sensitive in nature, right?" The boy nodded. "Situations like the one you found yourself in, those are sensitive ones too. Are you sure that you would be able to handle taking on a mission like that?"

This certainly made the blond hesitate, as he considered the implications. But he looked up not too long later, a determined look on his face.

"If I can't handle being an ANBU just because of something like that, then I would have no business being a ninja in the first place." He said. "Isn't part of being a ninja about facing your fears?"

"Okay, I see your point, I suppose. But ANBU training is really difficult, you know. A lot of the people in my group had to be taken off the training course because of the strain."

Naruto grinned for the first time in quite a while. "Sensei, this is ME we're talking about here!" He exclaimed. "I've been outrunning and outsmarting ANBU for years, Whatever training they've gone through should be child's play compared to what I can do!"

Iruka didn't have the heart to tell Naruto that they only struggled to catch him because they had to hold back so they didn't injure him.

He sighed, rubbing his temple gently as he thought things through. He hadn't had a headache since he was sat in the hospital a month before; but touching his temples like this felt calming, somehow. It probably had something to do with the fact that Koyaku popped into his thoughts when he did so. They'd gotten rather close lately…

"I really don't think that the hokage would agree with this" Iruka said finally, in a last ditch attempt to dissuade the boy. It wasn't that he didn't want to teach him, per se. It was more that he was worried that Naruto might end up taking the same route as all of his comrades did back on that fatal mission. The chuunin didn't know if he could take that kind of guilt.

"Eh, screw what the old man thinks!" Came the response. "I don't see why he should have a problem with how I'm trained anyway. I bet he'd be happy to see me actually _want_ to get better at something for once."

That wasn't technically true - Naruto had been challenging himself to improve on his speed, hadn't he? Not to mention all those pranks that he'd tested and retested until he'd perfected them. But at the same time he supposed the sandaime would be happy to see him put his efforts into something that didn't have him walking around with glitter in his beard for a week.

It seemed that Iruka was resigned to his fate. It didn't matter what he said, Naruto would just come up with the perfect counterargument anyway. Of course he did have the option to just outright refuse, but in all honesty a small part of him was looking forward to the opportunity to teach someone further than just the academy basics. And since Naruto knew the shadow clone jutsu, his training would be all the more easier, too.

He sighed once more, giving Naruto the impression that he was still really thinking it over.

"Okay. I'll talk to the hokage." He said finally. Naruto looked like he wanted to jump around and cheer, but he settled with just a big grin.

"BUT!" He interjected before the boy could get too excitable. "If he disagrees, then it's out of my hands. I won't go against the hokage. Although... if he does, you're welcome to _convince_ him however you see fit."

Naruto understood what he meant. His sensei was practically giving him permission to pull a few pranks if the old man didn't let him train as an ANBU!

But the boy didn't realise that Iruka had reasons to suggest such a thing. It would be the perfect way for the chuunin to convince Hiruzen to change his mind - after all, if Naruto had something more productive to put his mind to, he wouldn't be spending his time thinking up new pranks.

Yes, now that he considered it, Iruka was really looking forwards to the prospect of becoming a trainer. He'd wanted to take on a genin team in the past, but with his "retired" identity being that of a chuunin, he wasn't really qualified. He settled for teaching in the academy, but he always did miss the concept of training up a team.

OoOoO

"I cannot understand what has caused you to feel this way so intensely, Iruka-kun." The sandaime said, "Your proposition is absurd. Training an _eight year old_ in the ways of an ANBU?"

"It wouldn't be the first time, hokage-sama. It's not uncommon for people to enter ANBU at such a young age."

"Yes, but that's because they were prodigies, because they excelled at their work and graduated before anyone else in their classes!" The old man shot back. "Naruto is nothing like them."

It hurt for Hiruzen to say something so crass about the boy he considered a grandson. But he was the hokage above all else; he could not allow personal feelings to get in the way of his work.

"How can you be so sure about that, hokage-sama?" Iruka replied. "Think about it. He pulls pranks on some of the highest ranking officials and no one can prove it. He can outrun 90% of the ANBU that chase him down. Is he really not a prodigy when you take that into account?"

"But.. his classwork is…"

"He struggles with classwork because he'd rather learn things practically. You know as well as I do what it's like to have a student that doesn't listen to your lessons unless there's chakra involved."

He supposed that was fair enough. When one of his students had taken on a genin team of his own the old man had occasionally helped with a few lessons. The boy who would eventually become the fourth was absolutely terrible at learning when it hadn't been in a practical setting.

But it had been the practical setting that had given birth to his idea for a legendary technique. The young man had discovered his passion, and so help him if anyone disturbed him while he was writing seals.

Iruka had been too young at the time to remember anything like that. But during the funeral, Jiraiya himself had said a few words about what a useless brat he had been.

_...and what a heroic man he'd become._

It was one of the few things he could remember about that horrible dark time. After the loss of his parents most of his memories for several months were just a blur, which certainly wasn't helped by the fact that he was so young. But there were a few things that had been burned into his memory despite that; and one of these things was the funeral dedicated to the fourth and everyone else who'd died in the fight.

"Besides, right now he doesn't have anything to put his passion to. Yes, he does bolster a wish to be hokage. But that's too far away, he can't focus on it as a source of motivation right now. He needs something more immediate than that."

The hokage was about to speak but Iruka politely cut over him.

"Right now all of that energy he has balled up is going into pranks. He might have suffered a blow to his emotions when he was… assaulted but that's not stopped him as far as I can see. I've actually caught him planning a few _big_ pranks recently."

The statement caused the sandaime to raise an eyebrow as he noted that Naruto had finally opened up to his sensei. But the momentary relief was followed by dread, as he blanched at the thought of Naruto planning bigger pranks. He knew how devastating those pranks could be - at least as far as his dignity went. But the facts still remained, the boy was simply that - a boy.

"I understand. But I still cannot agree to this. I am sorry but it is my duty as the hokage to ensure the safety of the village. There is simply too much risk in having Naruto become an ANBU, given his tenant. That is my final answer."

 _'Hiruzen'_ Iruka thought to himself as he bowed out of the room _'you're going to regret that decision.'_

OoOoO

Not even one week later, Naruto had finalised the plans for his biggest prank yet, and now the time had come to put it into action.

His plan would result in a direct hit on one of the ANBU divisions, as well as hopefully affecting the hokage at the same time. But such a wonderful result would come with rather an increased risk, as the ANBU division in question would be on high alert - if Naruto made one mistake, there was a chance he would be injured, or even killed.

The idea had come from two chance occurrences that had provided him with all the information he needed to make it work. First had been when he had gone for a walk around the hokage rock, and discovered a boulder at its base that simply didn't look right. After observing it for a while he had been able to discover that it was a doorway into the headquarters of ANBU themselves; disguised by a mechanical doorway and a very thin genjutsu to cover the cracks.

Second had been when he was waiting for his sensei in a small bar not far away from where they lived. He'd told Naruto to go there and wait as he had a meeting to go to. While he wa sitting in a corner, stirring his (Non alcoholic) drink with a straw, a group of what he'd come to realise were off-duty ANBU had entered and talked just a little too loudly about their schedule.

The boy had absorbed the information and come up with a wonderful plan, and now was the time to strike.

At present he was stood atop the roof of a building, half a kilometer from the entrance. He could still see the area well enough with the aid of a pair of binoculars he had "borrowed" from Iruka. Above the entrance, stood on the edge of the hokage rock, were two clones, one of which was in a henge to look like a young female child. The other clone was fixing a container of something to the 'child's' back, hidden underneath her shirt. The 'child' had been codenamed A, the other clone B.

A third clone was also stood on hokage rock, but he was further away and had a second pair of binoculars - which were also a clone in henge. This one, codenamed C, was looking between the hokage tower and the boulder. He was scouting for the ANBU escort that was scheduled to appear in less than a minute.

A and B gave him the thumbs up to let him know they were ready, just as C and his binocular clone dispelled themselves to signal that the group was on its way. Naruto could only watch through his binoculars as the escort approached: It was up to B to work out the timing here. Time seemed to slow for the original as a bead of sweat ran down his brow. There had to be an exact moment for the plan to work, and if it was even milliseconds later there would be unfortunate consequences.

Two meters… one meter… _there!_

It was perfectly timed. A stood on the edge of the rock, almost entirely unnoticed until B shoved 'her' by the back, and she began to plummet towards the escort, screaming in as childish a voice she could muster. As expected, most of the ANBU operatives didn't move to catch her, instead readying kunai. The hokage himself was in the middle of the group, and moved to catch her himself before an arm was thrust in his path.

"It's too dangerous hokage-sama" The ANBU who'd stopped him remarked. "We'll have rookie Nekoka do it. It'll be good training."

The named operative stepped forwards, throwing a kunai towards the falling target, which wrapped around the child. The wire that was tied to its hilt kept her secure as he jumped up towards her. The jump was perfectly timed, so that the ANBU caught her as he was descending himself, which at least decreased the jolt as she came to a sudden stop. That was very fortunate indeed - any more of a jolt and Naruto wouldn't have been able to retain his henge.

There were tears in the girl's eyes as she thanked the operative, who simply smiled behind his mask and walked towards the group. "So what's your name kid?"

"My name…" The 'child' smiled as she answered, just as the ANBU was within range of the rest of the group. "Is shrapnel"

Everyone else in the group recognised the henge as soon as the child came into view, but it was a second too late as her smile turned into an outright manic grin, and she dispelled herself. Caught up in the sudden puff of smoke, no one noticed as a device hit the ground before them; nor did they notice B forming the 'snake' hand sign, triggering a hidden shrapnel tag on the device.

The whole exchange had taken less than 5 seconds, and suddenly almost everyone in the group found themselves covered in some kind of fluorescent, thermochromic paint. It was currently a reddish orange colour, but the contact with their warm bodies was sending it more towards a neon orange. Naruto knew that it would turn yellow, and then neon green as their temperature changed.

Once the group had gotten over the shock of the 'attack,' they became aware of a mischievous laughing from above them. Looking to the sky, they discovered B, stood in plain sight and laughing as loud and noticeably as possible as per the plan. It took less than two seconds for the operatives to register the boy and split apart, with half of the group watching over the hokage and half pursuing him.

Naruto, or B as it were, simply set off at a run, aiming to take the ANBU operatives as far away from the original as possible. Leading his neon pursuers on a wild goose - or _clone_ , he supposed - chase around the village. Then, when all of the ANBU had finally worked up enough of a sweat to change the paint green, he rapidly hid himself behind a conveniently placed archway and dispelled himself. The operatives ran straight past him, and were thoroughly confused to find a dead end before them.

Meanwhile the real Naruto had waited until the hokage and the rest of the escort left, and made his way back to tell Iruka the good news.

OoOoO

"And you did _what?!_ " The chuunin yelled, half incredulous and half amused. "Okay, okay. So how _does_ it come off?"

"It doesn't!" Naruto tapped his nose, with a foxy grin adorning his face. "Well, not without the special technique that only I know."

It was a devious plan, alright. If the paint had managed to cover as much of the group as Naruto said it did, it would mean that the ANBU involved would be effectively removed from active service until the paint was removed, to protect their identities, and the hokage himself would have to go into important meetings and have to remain professional… all the while covered from head to toe in fluorescent coloured paint!

Ah… speaking of which.

A knock on the door interrupted their discussion, the jovial atmosphere plummeting to a state of mild tension. Iruka got up to answer the door, as Naruto muttered under his breath about damn cat-masks and not taking their time.

"Aah, Shiradori, it's been a while." The former ANBU greeted, recognising her as one of his colleagues. "I wasn't aware you moved to Neko."

"Yes, I'd had enough of intelligence and chose to put my stealth to more… practical use." She replied. Despite the calm posture, Iruka could tell from her voice that she was fuming, and the small neon green splatter on her shoulder was most likely the cause. "Besides, I'm Nekodori now. I'm looking for Uzumaki-san."

Naruto cocked his head at the forced politeness, recognising the sarcasm veiled behind it. But he stepped forwards nonetheless, smirking as he spotted her shoulder.

"The hokage requires you. You are to be escorted to his office directly."

The boy shrugged, walking to the side of the operative, who placed a firm hand on his arm. It was a warning, as far as he could see. _Don't try to escape or you'll get hurt_. He stopped when she did this, looking over his shoulder.

"No idea how long this is gonna take, sensei. Don't wait up for me."

Iruka simply nodded to him, before Nekodori placed her free hand into a seal, and the two disappeared into a shunshin.

OoOoO

Naruto tried, he really did. He tried as _hard_ as he could not to laugh at the sight before him, But seeing the hokage in the state he was in, with paint staining more or less the whole of his body, with the exception of the new set of robes he'd put on… well, it was a rather hilarious sight.

His snickering stopped abruptly when a heavy dose of killing intent flooded the room. The boy began to shake slightly, as unwelcome memories made themselves known. The last time he'd felt something like this was…

No. He wouldn't remember that. Right now he had a plan to execute.

"I think you know why you're here, Naruto." Hiruzen began, levelling a fiery gaze at him.

"You want me to tell you how to get rid of that paint, I'm guessing. Buuut..." Naruto paused for a moment, drawing it out as long as he could. He knew that the old man was much more likely to make a fast decision when his patience was growing thin. "I don't really feel like it."

Killing intent again. Only this time it was weak, bearably so, and it came from the ANBU that remained watching in the corner. It would seem that he was testing the patience of many people today.

"Naruto, I am not asking you." Was the sandaime's response. "I am _ordering_ you to tell me-"

"But I'm not a shinobi, old man. You're not allowed to order any non-shinobi around unless they're in the way of a shinobi's work, or it's an emergency. I've been doing my research."

That wasn't a lie, exactly, but it wasn't the whole truth either. It had been Iruka that had explained these laws to him. A half-lie.

The hokage sighed, though it sounded more like a growl. "This is about my rejection to Iruka training you, isn't it?" He said, though it was more of a statement than anything.

Naruto simply nodded, an emotionless expression on his face.

"I do not believe that you, or Iruka for that matter, are going to be able to complete said training. Neither of you have the proper mental conditioning for it."

Naruto's ears perked up at the hokage's inclusion of Iruka with the mental condition comment, but he chose to remain silent for the time being.

"Do not even begin to think that I did not notice how you reacted when I released some intent." Another wave of killing intent was released by the old man, this time stronger than before. It didn't let up after a moment like the first one had. "I can see you even now, beginning to glaze over with the memories. You are too weak to become an ANBU."

The words rung in Naruto's ears, resonating with what the Kyuubi had said to him a weak- er, a week before. Before he realised what he was doing, the boy was drawing on a small amount of the furry guy's chakra. Not enough to lose control, but just enough to saturate the air with killing intent that dwarfed what was already swirling around the room.

" **I am _not_ weak**." He growled, his voice deepening as the chakra trickled into his network. The ANBU behind him was ready to spring into action to neutralise the threat he posed, but he paused when Naruto closed his eyes, forcing the chakra back. The intent dissipated, and a faint thud could be heard outside as one of the hokage's assistants felt the stifling weight of it lifting from her shoulders.

Hiruzen's eyes had widened to some degree, and the slightest shake had developed in his left hand, but it was immediately quashed as he regained his composure. The ANBU, however, was quivering in his corner, knees locked as he tried his best to remain standing after the killing intent had been released. But when the hokage had released his own intent moments after Naruto, he'd finally fallen to his knees.

He shot an apologetic look towards the old man, who inclined his head slightly. Then, detaching his tanto from his back, holster and all, he used it to clamber back into a standing position. Naruto watched from the corner of his eye as this happened, a thoughtful look on his face. Hiruzen didn't like that look, that was for sure.

"Would you care to explain yourself, as to why you have just saturated my tower with evil chakra?" he grumbled.

"Simple." Came Naruto's response. "I've just proven to you that this "weakness" you so mocked me for is no different to the same weakness that's just caused Kani-san over there to fall to his knees. So if he can become an ANBU when he still has this reaction, then surely I should be allowed to train as one given my reaction is so much less… harsh."

Naruto was lying at this - he'd drawn on the chakra subconsciously, and it had taken almost 100% of his concentration to reign it back in. But he'd still made a good point, one that had Hiruzen second guessing his previous decision.

...Although in all honesty he just wanted to go home for the day, get a shower and get rid of this damn paint. It'd been nearly sunset when the whole mishap had taken place, and by this point at least three hours had passed since.

"Fine. Say I did let you train. What do you plan to do once you're trained?"

"Join a division, naturally." The way Naruto spoke was unnerving, given that he was only eight. He spoke with such a sense of clarity that, were it not for his prepubescent voice, the old man could have easily mistaken him for an adult.

"Which one?"

"Eh, I don't know. I guess whichever one works best for me when I actually have a fighting style."

The sandaime thought about this answer for a while, amd was about to speak up when the boy spoke once more.

"...Probably assassination or T&I."

The proclamation sent a shiver running down his spine. Almost all of the potential recruits signed up to the ANBU to be in the simpler divisions. Such as Inu, or Kuma, or Buru. Recruits into the nameless divisions, like T&I and Assassination, were generally scouted from the more experienced members who showed promise. Applying directly wasn't disallowed, but it was certainly a rare occurrence.

"If I agree, you'll tell me how to remove this paint?"

Naruto nodded.

"And you're going to actually pay attention in class?"

"Of course. I did anyway, just pretended not to. But lately my sleeping's been out…"

"I'll get Inoichi's recommendation on some sleeping aids for that."

"That's besides the point though. Can I start training or not?"

He hesitated one more time. In honesty Naruto and Iruka had quashed every single counterargument he'd thrown at them, there really was no reason not to let them. Well, every one except the council, anyway.

The image of those two crones popped into his mind. They would surely disagree. Danzo however… he would volunteer to train the boy himself. That would not do.

_'Pfft. Screw the council. I'll deal with them later.'_

"Fine, you can train under Iruka." He finally answered. "But you are not to tell anyone about this arrangement. Consider it a second S-class secret."

"You got it, old man!" Naruto exclaimed, before a glare from said old man made him settle down. "I mean, hokage-sama."

When the boy had been dismissed finally, the ANBU guard remained for a moment.

"You know hokage-sama, I feel like that boy is going to become a very powerful guy in the future. He certainly has the intellect for it."

"How so?"

"When I was standing back up, he was watching me. There was a look in his eye, I'm sure you saw it too."

"I did. It was thoughtful"

"No, not just thoughtful." The operative paused to reattach the tanto holster to his back - the tension had passed and he was standing just fine now. "That was the same look the fourth had when he came up with the idea for the rasengan. I'm sure he was thinking about a new jutsu."

Hiruzen had to agree, there. The boy was a prodigy, he'd just needed the right stimuli to get the process started.

Wait a moment...

He'd been so intent on getting the current meeting over and done with, that he'd forgotten to get the technique from Naruto to remove the paint!

OoOoO

Once Naruto had left, he had considered going straight back to talk to Iruka. But the heated conversation had gotten to him more than he cared to admit, so he chose instead to take a slow walk around the village to clear his head.

Time had flown unbelievably fast since the plan had finally been put into action, all those hours ago. And by the time he'd left the hokage tower, it was almost midnight, the usually crowded streets almost empty. There were a few stragglers stumbling home, most of which had obviously had just a little too much to drink. For the most part they ignored Naruto; too drunk to recognise that he was the object of their hatred. But those who did recognise him were emboldened by the alcohol in their system, jeering and throwing remarks at him. They kept their distance, though. All of them except one.

He must have been a civilian, by the way he held himself. Strutting around with absolutely no awareness of his surroundings, unable to see past his hatred for the boy. As the man approached, a shadow atop a nearby rooftop tensed up, ready to protect him should he need it. But Naruto was looking at his target with intrigue, and the man in the shadows found himself holding back to see what he'd do.

The blond had had an idea, but in order to do so he needed some help. So, begrudgingly, he made contact with a certain nine-tailed fox.

_'Hey, Kyuubi, lend me a tiny bit of your chakra.'_

_' **After you stole it less than an hour ago anyway?** '_

_'You know I couldn't help that.'_

_' **I've told you already, kid. I'm not giving you free power.** '_

_'Just lend me the tiniest bit. I want to experiment with something.'_

The drunkard was upon him, swinging a clumsy left hook at the boy, who ducked with ease. If he wanted to, Naruto could floor this guy in two hits, but he held back from doing so because he wanted to expand on a new idea.

He smiled as his captive finally relinquished the minimal slice of chakra, and familiarized himself with the rush of adrenaline-like power. It was a drop in the ocean compared to how much chakra the fox held, but even that should do the trick on a drunk civilian.

Naruto had accidentally discovered the art of expelling chakra when he'd taken a particularly long fall while escaping from an angry chuunin. In a sudden burst of adrenaline he'd flared his reserves, and the pressure had sent it bursting from his tenketsu and softening the blow of his fall. He'd practiced with it a bit that night, yet he'd been unable to find a truly useful reason to continue trying. But he'd managed to work out how to increase and decrease the flow in the time he had been practicing, and it would come in handy right here.

Naruto focused on the alien chakra flowing through him, and tried to separate it from his own. But with subpar chakra control it was near impossible, and he had to settle with wasting a whole lot of the stuff.

He started releasing the chakra in tiny amounts, then increased the density bit by bit. After a couple of seconds, the drunk civilian had stopped in his tracks, his right fist hanging in the air where he had been about to hit Naruto. Then as the density increased, the boy observed him begin to shake, and eventually vacate his bowels as fear took over. He took one look at Naruto, whimpered and ran as fast as he could.

The technique Naruto had created was currently so weak that anyone more than half a meter away from him would not feel it. But the man had been invading his personal space and swinging punches, so he'd been hit by a dose of killing intent directly from the Kyuubi himself, transferred into the air by a potent chakra. Yes, it was certainly a technique worth looking into.

The boy relaxed as the sense of danger passed, and looked around him.

"Enjoying the show Iruka-sensei?"

The man shrouded in shadows grimaced, and jumped down from his hiding place. He'd almost forgotten about Naruto's crazy sensing abilities.

"Aah, I was getting a little worried as you were gone for so long. I saw you leave just as I got to the tower, and when you hesitated and took a longer route I chose not to engage you because I thought you wanted to be alone."

"Well I did, but I guess I picked the wrong street to be alone on" Naruto answered, rubbing the back of his head. "But still, it meant I got to create a new technique!"

Iruka was impressed that he'd been able to create a new technique, and figured it had something to do with how the civilian had reacted for no apparent reason. "So are you going to tell me what that technique is?"

"It was…" Naruto began, but seemed to change his mind. "Nope, I'm not going to tell you until I train it more. When I've started to improve on it I'll need someone to test it on!"

The chuunin wasn't exactly happy with that. But he knew how stubborn the boy could get, and saw little reason to try to convince him otherwise.

"What about you meeting with the hokage? How did he react?"

"Well he flared a lot of killing intent and it brought back memories of what happened. I didn't react much but he still noticed and said that I didn't have the mental state to learn as an ANBU. Then I accidentally channeled some of Kyuubi's power but kept control, and released a lot of really strong killing intent that made the other ANBU and someone outside collapse. Then I told the hokage that the ANBU in the corner of the room had had the same kind of reaction to something as I did except worse, and he finally let me train on the condition I try harder in the academy and tell him how to get rid of the paint and he's going to get Inoichi to sort out some sleeping tablets and-"

"Woah, calm down Naruto!" Iruka exclaimed. He'd managed to make sense of what Naruto was saying but he had been beginning to lose track. "So you proved the hokage wrong, and he let you train."

"Well basically, yeah." The boy answered sheepishly, before pausing and creating a shadow clone. "Tell the hokage how to get rid of the paint." He said first, directed to the clone. Then he turned back to Iruka "I kinda forgot to tell him."

Their conversation had been occurring as they walked back home, and by this point they were almost there. The rest of their walk was quiet as the two of them turned to their thoughts. Iruka was thinking about what the next couple of years would hold for him, now that he was allowed to train his student-come-roommate as an ANBU. Naruto, meanwhile, was thinking about what the hokage had said to him.

_"I do not believe that you, or Iruka for that matter, are going to be able to complete said training. Neither of you have the proper mental conditioning for it."_

What had the old man meant by that? Iruka was already an ANBU, or at least a former one, so how was it possible? Could it be to do with him being forced into retirement from active service?

There was little else to do. Naruto would have to ask the man himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you hadn't noticed, the ANBU are named based on their division, and their division is based on the japanese names of animals whose properties match that of the division. ANBU members are trained to recognise mask designs and use this and the colour of each mask to determine the name of the operative. For example, an operative with a green cat design on their mask would be named Nekodori, meaning Neko + Midoriya, or green cat. Original, I know. Most shinobi and even some civilians are able to recognise the mask by design and tend to call the ANBU by their mask name, followed by the polite "-san."
> 
> For example, the ANBU in the hokage's office has a crab mask, so he is Kani-san.
> 
> [ANBU divisions - named + properties]  
> Neko (Cat) - Stealth  
> Inu (Dog) - Tracking  
> Shira (Dolphin) - Intelligence  
> Buru (Bull) - Offense  
> Kuma (Bear) - Strength  
> Kani (Crab) - Defence
> 
> [ANBU Divisions - Nameless]  
> Codebreaking  
> Assassination  
> Torture and Interrogation  
> Imprisonment  
> Law Enforcement


	7. Growth 2 - Revelations

** Growth 2: Revelations **

_What had the old man meant by that? Iruka was already an ANBU, or at least a former one, so how was it possible? Could it be to do with him being forced into retirement from active service?_

_There was little else to do. Naruto would have to ask the man himself._

His chance came to him when Iruka had gone into the kitchen to make the two of them a mug of hot chocolate to drink before bed. A nightly ritual that the boy observed him take part in, mostly when either of them had had a stressful day and needed to wind down before bed. He sat at the kitchen table while the scarred man busied himself at the kettle.

“Sensei… the old man said that neither of us have the mental strength to train me as an ANBU. Do you know why he included you?”

Iruka brought the hot chocolates to the table, and sat down himself. “You don’t have to keep calling me sensei outside of class, you know. You can just call me Iruka, I don’t mind.

Naruto replied that he understood, and sipped his drink.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” He continued. “Do you know what that is?”

The boy nodded. “It’s what Inoichi said I have, I think. Where a bad event is so traumatic that it gives you mental health issues afterwards, right?”

“That’s right.” Iruka sipped his own drink gingerly, seeming to take his time. “I have PTSD too. It happened when my team and I were ambushed on our final mission.”

OoOoO

_Iruka stood in line, waiting to receive his waiver. He was one of the very few people from his division to be there - most of the people chosen were from the heavy divisions such as Buru and Kuma. The whole group totalled thirty people, not including the two captains that would be leading the expedition. The two captains were each in possession of a chestplate bearing the insignia of a wolf - marking them part of the most respected members throughout the whole alliance._

_The only other person in his group that had signed was his assignment partner… who also happened to be his best friend. When he’d heard that Shirao was going, he’d jumped straight to the mission desk and put forward his own name. He knew of the risks the mission posed, and he could not allow himself to let her take that risk alone._

_When the list had been compiled, thirty people were called in to partake in the mission, and they were all given waivers to fill out. It wasn’t the first time he’d used one of these, but that didn’t mean he would take it lightly. This piece of paper would be his dying wish should he lose his life in action. Letters to loved ones, instructions for what should be done with property and possessions, how the subject wanted to be put to rest… it was a rather morbid document all in all._

_And it was made all the worse by the fact that he had no one he could put on the ‘letters to loved ones’ box. Of course he had Shirao, but as she was on the same mission he wasn’t allowed to put her name down._

_“I have no family, and very few friends, so please give this message to the hokage. Thank you for teaching me the true meaning of the will of fire. You’re the man who gave me purpose, a reason to keep fighting. Thank you for showing me who I could be.”_

_The possessions box wasn’t much different, either._

_“Should Shirao survive, she is allowed to take whatever items she wants of mine. My funds are to be transferred directly to her account. Anything that is not taken is to be sold, and the money made from them donated to Shira Shotai. If she doesn’t make it, all funds are to be donated to Shira Shotai.”_

_He didn’t bother asking what Shirao had written, and Shirao didn’t ask him. It was a personal document, and the two of them respected that._

_Once everyone had returned their papers, they were instructed to stand in lines before the captains who explained their mission._

_“Our target is a bandit camp north of the land of rice. Basic observations seem to show that this is a regular camp, specializing in kidnapping and trafficking of holders of rare kekkei genkai. But sources suggest that there are genetic engineering laboratories deep underneath the compound, which are designed to clone and reproduce these kekkei genkai users at a faster rate than any breeding program. Chakra sensors show that there are large concentrations of expelled chakra around the vicinity of the encampment. This supports the risk of genetic labs, hence why the mission level has been increased.” Lectured the first captain._

_“You are split into teams of fifteen. Those of you with more frontal techniques, specialising in attack, are in group A. Those of you with other techniques, such as intelligence and tracking, are in group B.” The second captain continued. “Group A will lead the attack, rushing the camp from three sides in teams of five, while Group B will standby to the north to intercept the bandits that are pushed back.”_

_The meeting went long into the night, as the men and women discussed possible action plans and formations. Iruka was quick to add in a few ideas, but they were shot down by the rest of the team for one reason or another._

_It was past 3am by the time the meeting ended, and the now very tired operatives left to catch some rest, and prepare for the assignment that would commence in two days._

_-_

_“Hold.” The captain, who was codenamed Okami, held up a hand to stop Group B’s advances. “This place will do.”_

_They were in a clearing, with plenty of vegetation around the edges to hide them. The various ninja set out to conceal themselves within the foliage, as Okami radioed group A to explain that they were in place._

_Twenty minutes later, a distress signal was received from group A._

_“Code red, repeat, code red! Ambush! All of the group has been wiped out, I am the only one left. I am escaping north, about twenty-”_

_The radio cut off as a scream echoed in the distance. Everyone in group B had heard the call, and crouched in silence awaiting their orders. Iruka was situated closest to the captain, and watched as he seemed to momentarily lose his composure, before putting the emotional mask back on to match the coldness of the physical one._

_“H-hold positions. I will scout ahead to determine the situation.”_

_Omaki crept towards the south edge of the clearing, where a path led into the trees. He had his tanto in his right hand and a kunai in his left, which he threw towards a sign of movement he seemed to spot before him. It sailed through a bush and into a tree, and a tense silence settled around them once more._

_Within the blink of an eye, all hell broke loose. A blade seemingly made of ice burst forth suddenly, hitting the captain so fast that he had been unable to even lift his tanto before his head was removed from the rest of his body. Moments later a crowd of shinobi raced into the clearing, many of which bore hitai-ates with horizontal slashes carved into them. Missing-nins._

_Iruka couldn’t say he recognised any of them, which meant that they were weak enough to not be placed into the bingo book, but strong enough that they hadn’t been wiped out by Group A. Then again, considering the number of enemies before them, he couldn’t bring himself to be surprised. There were easily a hundred, maybe more. And many of them were wielding powerful kekkei genkais, if the ice swords and lava masses were anything to go by._

_But they had had an order; to defeat the bandits, and there was no way they’d be returning to the village having failed their task._

_Within ten minutes, the clearing had been turned into a veritable bloodbath. Every one of Iruka’s teammates had fallen to the enemies besides himself and Shirao - and likewise every enemy had been wiped out by group B, besides one final man who stood before them._

_Shirao rushed forwards, taking a slash at the man with her tanto. But before she could make contact, something white protruded from his cloak, stopping the blade in its tracks. She backtracked before he could land a hit of his own, but it was clear that she was shaken up by this man’s actions._

_“Bones. He’s manipulating his bones…” She remarked to Iruka, visibly repulsed. “He’s a Kaguya.”_

_Said Kaguya wasn’t content to let them stand and talk, so he lunged forwards himself, targeting Shirao. A bone sword of some kind protruded from his hand, which he used to take slashes and jabs at the woman. Iruka sprinted to the man’s rear, aiming for his back in an attempt to surprise him. But before he could make contact a number of bones protruded from the Kaguya once more, one of which managed to spear Iruka’s right shoulder. He stumbled back as his arm was rendered almost useless, tripping on the leg of a fallen enemy behind him._

_The Kaguya sensed his opening, and twisted around. He lunged at Iruka, bone-sword-thing poised to stab him in the heart. The scarred man closed his eyes, waiting for the impact and knowing he had no way to defend himself._

_But the final blow didn’t come._

_He opened his eyes as a weight pressed into his chest. It was Shirao - she’d jumped in front of the blade to save him. As he took one look at her lifeless face, at the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, the ANBU saw red._

_He pushed Shirao gently to the ground, jumping up and facing the Kaguya; who had been watching the moment with a bored expression. Shirao’s blood was still staining the bone sword, fuelling Iruka’s anger further. He flashed through some hand seals faster than his enemy could follow, and released a jet of pressurized water towards him. The Kaguya was able to dodge, just about, only to sense Iruka’s presence behind him and push a multitude of bones from his back once more. But this time he didn’t dodge, instead allowing a bone to puncture his abdomen as he used his left hand to drive a kunai into his back, right into the blind spot where his spine prevented more bones from growing._

_The kunai plunged deep enough that it completely severed two of the Kaguya’s vertebrae from one another, effectively paralyzing him. Because he was unable to move he was unable to mould the chakra needed to regrow his bones, allowing Iruka to step to the front of the defenceless man and slit his throat._

_The scarred man had escaped a fatal wound to his heart, but the blood loss was eating away at his consciousness. He stumbled towards, then fell to his knees and crawled towards the radio that the captain had dropped, and tuned it in to the appropriate channel by pressing the distress button._

_“Bandit assignment… successful…” He spluttered. “All teammates dead… I’m the only one… I’m bleeding out… please backup.”_

_He then pressed the location button - a helpful button that recorded the radio’s current coordinates and sent it straight to the Search and Rescue Division. The message would have arrived there too, and if the operatives assigned to listen were doing their job, a rescue team would be immediately dispatched._

_Iruka crawled through the blood and gore, slowly inching his way back to his best friend. He curled up beside her, holding her hand and weeping as he felt the last of his strength leave his body. He would die here, there was no way the rescue team would arrive on time._

OoOoO

_“Kami… This is horrific.”_

_The words drifted to him, muffled. It was as though he were hearing them from underwater, or through a thick wall._

_“Can you see any movement?”_

_“Nothing.”_

_Somewhere deep within him, Iruka registered what they were saying. But he couldn’t bring himself to call out to them, make a noise, attract their attention. He could only will himself to open his eyes, and watch the rescue team as they walked through the bodies. They were getting further away from him._

_“I don’t see any survivors here. I’ll contact the mortuary squad to clear up the bodies - they’re standing by.”_

_The men were walking away. They were leaving him. And there was nothing he could do about it._

_“Wait.”_

_The order rang clear through the heavy silence. In his injured state he could only guess, but Iruka thought it came from behind him._

_“Someone’s still alive, I can sense their chakra.”_

_“Where?”_

_“Over there, it seems. It’s a faint signature but I can feel it.”_

_Iruka could do little more than lay there and blink, his body refusing to follow the commands his brain was trying to send. But they knew he was there, they would save him!_

_One long minute later, he felt a hand on his neck, feeling for a pulse. The person behind him moved to his front, crouching down to see if he was showing any sign of life. He removed Iruka’s mask when he couldn’t locate a pulse; exposing the scarred man’s face to his rescuer. The man seemed almost startled when he blinked, and paused a moment before yelling to his colleagues._

_“I’ve found him! He’s in critical condition!”_

_They rushed towards him, crowding around as they looked over his injured body._

_“Stay awake, Shiraa-san. Look at me, focus on me. We’re going to rescue you, you hear me?”_

_The speaker removed his own mask in an effort to comfort him. It was a well practiced move, one that, even in his critical state, Iruka recognised as a basic first-aid instruction._

_‘_ If it’s a fellow ANBU you’re tending to, let them see your face. It provides them a sense of comfort and increases trust for them to see a person, rather than just a mask. If it’s not an ANBU, use henge. _’_

_But try as he might, the relief of knowing he was in safe hands sapped the little strength he had left, and Iruka felt his eyes begin to close. He could hear the voices of his rescuers, but they were fading fast._

_“He’s arresting. Get him on his back, we need to…”_

_Then, there was nothing._

OoOoO

“I woke up in hospital a week later. I didn’t know the full extent of what happened until I read my medical files.”

Iruka stood and went to a box to the corner of the room, extracting a folder with crisp white sheets of paper in it. The corners had been stapled together, and there was strangely no fold to indicate that the paper had even been opened past the first page. Naruto noticed this, so he elaborated.

“I could never bring myself to read the in-depth report.” he admitted. “You’re welcome to read it if you want to, though.”

Naruto nodded, but made no effort to read it. “If you don’t mind, can I read this later please? My mind’s a little full right now.”

“Of course.”

While Naruto had been listening to his sensei talk, his hot chocolate had gone cold, lost in the emotions that were weighing down on the room.

“When I recovered, I was told that Inoichi had deemed me unfit for service. I don’t blame him - I spent most of my time staring into space and wishing I’d died with them. If I’d continued on that path, perhaps I would have done just that.

“One day the hokage told me that he was putting me in to the academy to start teaching. He thought it would help me.”

“But did you want to?”

“Not at all. Oh, I hated that class with a passion. They were loud, talkative, never got any work done. They were the worst class in the academy. But then one day there was an incident, and one of the students in my class got hurt. I found that I was the one who took them to the hospital, sat beside their bed until they healed. I realised that I cared for that class more than I could ever know.

“After that I had begun to settle into my new position as a teacher. For the most part I was able to return to my former self. But there was still a part of me that was never the same afterwards.

“So I would imagine that this is why Hiruzen said that I don’t have the strength to do this. He must believe that it would bring up hard memories. But I’ll be honest, helping you move through your own problems has helped me to move through mine. I’m barely affected by the memories of it anymore. And between you and me, I’ve always desperately wanted to train a genin team for myself. But my retirement as a chuunin prevented me.”

A silence stretched on as Naruto processed all of the new information. Iruka, for want of something to do to break the tension, put his hand over the blond’s drink and used a fire technique to heat it back up. The action caught Naruto’s attention, and he was intrigued by the little trick.

“Hey, that’s pretty cool! Can you teach me?”

Iruka sent him a look of mock-admonishment as he stood up, stretching until his back popped a few times.

“At this time? I’ll show you tomorrow. That is, right after we get back from a shopping trip. If you’re going to be training under me, you’re going to need some new kit.”

Naruto was happy with this. He finished his drink quickly, sighing contentedly at the taste, before standing up for himself and bidding his sensei goodnight.

Iruka went to his own room not two minutes later, and silence reigned once more. But neither of them were able to sleep, each having other things to distract their minds. The former ANBU was dissociating slightly, having brought back memories by talking about what had happened to him. He’d long since learned how to prevent these dissociations, but Inoichi had told him `that it was sometimes good to let the flashbacks happen, even meditate on them, and it would help to decrease the chances of it happening in the future.

Naruto, meanwhile, was reading through the medical documents that he’d been given with a pretty awestruck expression. It was one thing hearing what happened from someone who was there, but it was a whole other thing to see the extent of those injuries described in such clarity.

OoOoO

Page 1

[Medical notes] - Umino, Iruka.

Affiliation: Konoha

Occupation: Shinobi, ANBU.

Division: Shira Shotai

Status: Critical

Injuries: Superficial right shoulder puncture, critical center-right chest puncture, Minor head injury: No concussion, Chakra exhaustion.

Extra information: Right lung punctured by injury, lung collapsed and injury hemorrhaging. Extreme blood loss combined with chakra depletion.

Page 2

Report written by [REDACTED]

Affiliation: X

Team: X

Team members: X

We received the distress call at 0932 hours, stating that the mission they were currently deployed on had been a success, but that the caller was the only survivor and was bleeding out. My rescue team was dispatched no less than two minutes later. I took point, leading my men through a lesser known path to get to the location faster.

When we arrived the battlefield was silent. A stench of blood filled the air even from several kilometers away, and there were bodies as far as the eye could see. The sight was harsh enough that [REDACTED] was taken ill, and had to retreat to a nearby rendezvous area [REDACTED] took the job of alerting the mortuary squad and standing by for further orders.

At first it was believed that there were no survivors. There were no signs of life, no noises, and the chakra saturating the air was making it difficult to sense any signatures. My team scoured the field, but were unable to find any rescuable victims.

My team was ready to leave when I stopped them. The chakra saturation in the air had begun to dissipate, and I was able to detect a very faint signature. I relayed this and the location to my team, and we began searching.

I located Iruka when I pressed my hand to his neck, checking for a pulse. I could sense the chakra signature much better here, so even though I couldn’t find a pulse I instinctively removed his mask, to discover that he was conscious.

I relayed my findings to my team, before beginning to administer first aid. My first concern was the wound on his center-right abdomen, which was bleeding heavily. Because of blood saturating the ground, it was hard to tell how much he’d lost. It was clear that he was losing consciousness once we’d found him, so I removed my mask and encouraged him to stay awake.

But he went into cardiac arrest, due to the amount of blood and chakra lost. So I had a team member begin resuscitation while we prepared a live transport scroll. Iruka was sealed into the scroll alongside [REDACTED], [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] to continue CPR and dress wounds, while [REDACTED] and I collected [REDACTED] and the mortuary team took our place on the battlefield.

We took the fastest return to Konoha and took him straight to the ANBU treatment center. Within the scroll Iruka had been resuscitated and his primary abdomen wound dressed. [REDACTED] had thoughtfully attached an IV in preparation for blood transfusion, which took place immediately when we arrived. A hemorrhage was discovered within his right lung, which had collapsed under pressure. Due to the breathing risk the subject was put to sleep and put onto machine-assisted breathing. He was moved from sedation to an induced coma to increase healing later.

OoOoO

Naruto stopped reading after that. He figured the rest would just detail what happened in the hospital after the rescue team left, and considering the difficulty he’d had just getting through the rescue team’s description he knew there would be little point in trying further.

Instead he looked back at a term that had caught his attention most. The live transport scroll. He could have sworn that he’d seen that term before, but he couldn’t remember it exactly.

The boy got up from his bed, and looked at the scrolls and books he had stored in a shelf on one side of the room. He hadn’t had many but Iruka had bought him a few every time he went shopping as a kind of souvenir, and now he had a lot of stuff with all different kinds of information. Of course his sensei had been careful not to give him anything too advanced, but there were still some really interesting things.

He spotted the book he’d been looking for, and lugged it back to his bed. Huh, funny. Naruto had only been here for a little over a month and yet he was already beginning to treat it like home. _His_ bed, _his_ room… but was it?

The book was one of the biggest he owned, detailing seals and types of sealing item. There was a wealth of information here, ranging from how to write a basic seal, to things like advanced sealing arrays - not to mention it explained the origin of each seal too. He’d not looked through this book much; it seemed much too out of his depth, and Iruka had agreed. But the word “Live transfer scroll” had been in here, he remembered.

He spotted the term on the contents page, and rifled through the book until he was in the right place.

_ Live transport scroll _

_The Live transport scroll, sometimes referred to as a lab scroll or LT scroll, is a revolutionary sealing scroll that was accidentally discovered by the late Tensai Kagakusha._

_Kagakusha was a shinobi in his early years, but he retired from active service to work on his experimentation full time. His ideas were often outlandish and hard to believe, so he was forced to do the work entirely on his own, funding it through donations and occasional missions completed on the side._

_But it is this isolation that caused him to discover the use of LT scrolls. Due to the fact that he was unable to work in lab conditions, there were often issues that occurred while he was experimenting. During a particular test, Kagakusha was attempting to create a sealing scroll that would contain the entirety of a house with little chakra input. He was unable to contain a house due to the size of the scroll and the chakra required, but had begun with a single object and gradually increased the size, tweaking the seal to accommodate. Eventually he had achieved the sealing of a room with a chakra consumption level similar to a small D-ranked jutsu. In short, it was a stroke of genius that he had been able to complete such a feat. But he was unhappy with just being able to seal a room, and so he continued to test and retest his array._

_One day, while he was attempting to further decrease the chakra consumption of a room sealing, Kagakusha made the mistake of leaving the area for a few moments, allowing for a younger child to enter the room unknown to him. He returned and completed the sealing once more, unaware that there was a live child within._

_But when he unsealed the scroll, and the child was discovered, there was a great shock as it was discovered that he was still alive. Of course the child was shaken, but he was alive and completely unharmed._

_This sparked more tests. Kagakusha came to realise that the sealing array he’d created was able to support human life within its confines. He checked his seals in as much depth as possible, and discovered an error in part of his writing that caused it to replicate the conditions outside of the scroll, on the inside. Meaning that if the air was breathable around the scroll, it would be breathable inside of the scroll too. This discovery led the way to a new sealing array being created, in which the scroll that the room is sealed into would be sealed into a second, smaller scroll so that it could be easier carried around._

_The original sealing array was named the Ichiji scroll, and the second array named the niji scroll._

_The accidental seal that could replicate conditions was studied extensively, and eventually a variant of it was created, which could replicate the conditions present upon sealing and retain them, no matter what changes occurred outside of it. But Kagakusha died in an accident before he could implement it into the ichiji scroll. Since the sealing required two scrolls in order to be functional in the first place, there was little point in attempting to finish his work, and so it was left in its current state as a tribute to his achievements._

_LT scrolls are now used among ANBU rescue squads and some advanced healing teams to create a kind of “pop-up hospital.” Because there is no access to electricity within the scroll, chakra-based implements are included within the room, as well as a small generator to power lighting. The generator is not used for electronic objects because the drain is too high for what it is worth._

The description for this seal was hidden, because of its advanced nature. But that was fine - Naruto wouldn’t have been able to understand it anyway.

He was intrigued to hear of a seal that could replicate breathable conditions, though. It was no secret that sealing a person into a regular sealing scroll was a death sentence - when unsealed the person would be completely braindead, all internal organs frozen in time for the duration they were inside of the scroll. Anyone that was lucky enough to be living was so brain damaged that they were euthanized out of pity.

But the concept of having a room that you could pop out of nowhere in an instant… well that was certainly something to think about. Heck, Naruto would throw himself into sealing just to have the chance to work with the possibilities that opened up. Perhaps he could ask Iruka when he had a chance.

But right now… Well, Naruto could feel the heaviness building in his eyelids. He’d spent almost an hour just reading through the medical files and the book, and despite the fear of nightmares he was really too tired to care. So he put the book away, turned off the light and curled up under the covers. It would be a long day tomorrow, and he had to be ready for anything his sensei threw at him.


	8. Growth 3 - Shopping

** Growth 3: Training **

“Morning Naruto! Get up, it’s time to go do some training!”

Naruto groaned and pulled his pillow over his face, blocking out the light that Iruka had just switched on. Normally he’d have opened the curtains to let the sunlight through, but today he’d decided to get up so early that there was no sunlight to stream into his room in the first place.

The boy stayed quiet as he listened to Iruka shuffling around in the kitchen, contemplating whether or not to go back to sleep and face the wrath of his sensei later. Eventually the choice was taken from him as the older male marched into his room once again, grabbing the blanket from over him and letting it fall to the floor. The sudden chance in temperature forced Naruto’s tired body to snap into focus; doing so just in time for him to swipe at the bundle that had been unceremoniously thrown at him. But while he managed to stop it from hitting him in the face, the bundle fell to pieces, revealing a set of clothes that scattered across his bed.

“New clothes?” The boy asked, studying them sceptically. There was a white vest in there, alongside a dark blue long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of black pants. “They’re quite… boring.”

Iruka shook his head in amusement. “They might also be a bit big. I used to wear them when I was younger. But they ought to do until we can get to the shops today.”

“My normal clothes will do” Naruto pouted. The chuunin just looked at him, a sheepish look on his face.

“I might have put them in the tumble dryer… aaand they might have shrunk just a little bit?”

“You did _what!?_ ” The boy yelled incredulously, jumping up from his bed to take a look. And sure enough, laying on the table were the three sets of orange jumpsuits he owned – except they looked like they were made to be worn by a toddler.

Iruka couldn’t help but chuckle as Naruto held up one of his jackets to his chest, earning him a glare. But a small smile was pulling at the boy’s lips too, and before he could stop himself he too was laughing. The two of them dissolved into a fit of laughter, enough to bring tears to their eyes and leaving them marginally breathless once it had passed.

“Soo… yeah, we’re going to go shopping for some more once we’ve eaten.”

Naruto nodded, still grinning madly. He couldn’t understand what was so funny about shrunken clothes, but he was sure glad for it. It had been so long since he’d laughed like that.

Half an hour later, Naruto had gotten changed into the new clothes – which were actually a decent fit, apart from the fact that they were made for someone several inches taller than him – and the two of them had sat down to some breakfast. They watched the sky grow brighter as they tucked into their food and made small talk about anything and everything they could think of; politely avoiding any talk about their conversation from the night before. It was a tough subject – Iruka was happy to let it pass by as if nothing had happened, and Naruto respected his decision. It was after all the same thing that Iruka had done for him these past few weeks.

“Well then.” the chuunin exclaimed once they’d cleaned up. “Shall we go shopping?”

OoOoO

Naruto seemed to be in a low mood as they browsed around the first place – a clothing store that mostly catered to civilians. Iruka had wanted to go inside himself as they sometimes stocked some good-looking clothes, despite the civilian focus. But as he was picking through the jackets on show, he couldn’t help but notice the way the boy would pick something up, sigh and put it back down.

“Found anything that caught your eye yet?” He asked the blond, who shook his head. “Me neither. Shall we head to the next place?”

The next store, he figured, was much more likely to pick up Naruto’s mood, as it was a shinobi-specialised one. They stocked all manner of clothes, and unlike civilian stores most clothes had customisation tags. He pointed this out to the boy, but he just received a blank look in response.

“You don’t know what a customisation tag is?”

“Nope.”

Iruka shook his head at Naruto incredulously, before launching into a brief explanation about how, for a slightly increased price, the buyer could take a piece of clothing and have it altered to fit whatever purpose they needed it for. Extra pockets? Can do. Want it to be made of protective material instead of regular fabric? No problem. There were even some stores – this one included – that allowed you to go out and buy your own material, and they’d make or alter clothing with it.

“…almost all shinobi clothing stores have customisation tags, you know. Haven’t you ever bought anything from one before? They ask you at the checkout about using the tag.”

“No, not really. I’ve only ever really bought from charity shops and things – these places are always so expensive.”

Now it was Iruka’s turn to give the boy a blank look. He glanced around him, before walking straight over to the first shelf that caught his eye. Seconds later he pulled a bland-looking grey blazer from the pile, and brought it over to Naruto to show him the price tag.

“Don’t you know shinobi stores are the cheapest stores around? The hokage gives them extra funds when they register as shinobi-oriented because that means the stores are directly helping the military. Even civilians shop here sometimes thanks to the low prices.” Iruka explained, before busying himself with putting the blazer back neatly. Cheap or not, there was no way in hell he’d be caught wearing something like _that_.

“Anyway.” He continued, after Naruto bore no response. “You don’t have to worry about the price today – I’m buying you some changes of clothes to make up for the ones I shrunk.”

This certainly added a small spark to the boy’s eyes, and he turned around to go and take a look around the store. But moments later he paused and turned back towards his sensei.

“Are you sure?”

The chuunin smiled and ruffled his hair. “Of course I’m sure. Pick yourself a set of clothes and I’ll buy you three sets. And you can get a change of casual clothes too, so you’re not stuck without anything while you’re waiting on the customisations.”

With that, Naruto thanked him profusely and ran off to find a new outfit. Iruka had some shopping of his own to do, so he left the boy to it. Ten minutes later the chuunin was just paying for his own things when the blond reappeared, empty handed and pouting slightly.

“I found the perfect clothes but they don’t have the right colour.” He mumbled. “It’s all in browns and blacks.”

“Do they have the tag on them? We can get some fabric from the market if you’d like.”

“They do, is that okay? Won’t it be more expensive?”

“Well of course, but it’s not that much. I go to the market for custom materials myself sometimes, I know a place that’s pretty cheap. And luckily for us it’s right on the route to the next shop I want to go to, too. So we can head there once we’re done at Niju Buki.”

Naruto hadn’t heard of that store before, but he figured it was pretty obvious what it was about. “So a weapons store? What are we getting from there?”

Iruka simply tapped the side of his nose knowingly, before turning to leave the store they were currently in. As he walked, he managed to take a sealing scroll from the backpack he’d brought with him, and in a quick movement sealed the items he’d just brought into it, then rolled it up and put it back away. Naruto watched the whole thing with fascination.

“You gotta show me how to do that, sensei!” He exclaimed, thinking about all the possibilities. He’d thought that sealing things was a really hard subject, so he hadn’t really considered learning about it until he was older. But Iruka had made it look so easy!

“I can show you how to use a sealing scroll, sure.” The chuunin replied. “But doing it on the move is actually a really difficult task. I’m only that good at it because my job required me to be fast.”

The boy accepted this explanation, and they continued walking in silence.

A few minutes later, just as the two of them were drawing near to the store they’d been looking for, Iruka head Naruto mumbling to himself.

“No I don’t…” He muttered, pouting slightly. “Oh… thanks. I just suddenly decided to.”

The older male cast a look towards the blond, who had his head down and a small frown.

“Really? You will? Why?” He continued. “Yeah, I suppose it is kind of fun. Thank you, I thought you didn’t want to help me though… Oh, okay, I see. That’s fine.” He smiled, raising his head. It seemed like a mischievous smile. But it dropped suddenly as he seemed to realise something “I- I am?” 

Iruka watched with intrigue as the conversation seemed to end abruptly, and Naruto shot his head up to look at him.

“Are you alright Naruto?” he asked hesitantly.

“Aah, hi sensei. I didn’t realise I was talking out loud, heheh.” The boy answered, grinning sheepishly. I was kinda having a conversation with Mister Nine.”

“You can speak to each other?” Iruka asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to cause any panic should anyone hear them conversing about the furball.

“Yeah. He could speak to me any time he wanted but because I didn’t know I just thought it was one of the voices in my head. You know, like thoughts. But now I know it’s easy to have a conversation.” He paused, seeming to be listening to said voice. “And apparently he can hear my thoughts, so I don’t have to talk out loud” The boy finished, slapping a palm to his face.

“okay. So what were you talking about, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Eh, I’ll tell you later.”

OoOoO

 **“You know kid, you look like you’re playing dress up with those oversized clothes.”** Naruto’s wandering thoughts were brought to the voice within his mind, startling him for a moment before he remembered where the voice was coming from.

“No I don’t…” He muttered, pouting to himself. The Kyuubi just chuckled, the sound seeming to eerily echo around his head, before changing the subject.

 **“But I have to admit you have style with that jutsu you created. I haven’t seen my chakra used that creatively before.”** It was a blatant complement, but his tone of voice still made it sound like an insult, somehow.

“Oh… thanks.” The boy replied, marginally confused at the sudden change. “I just suddenly decided to-“

**“I know what you did. I was there, remember? Sort of.”**

Naruto remained quiet as the demon within him went into a kind of rant about something. The words “Damn flash” and “Boring” could be heard, but that’s about it.

 **“…like a prison here. Well it is I suppose. But anyway.”** He finished, seeming to remember that he was talking to the boy. **“My point is that I like that jutsu, and I like listening to the response it has on people. I guess. So I’m going to lend you a tiny amount of chakra when you need it to work on improving it.”**

“Really? You will?” Naruto responded, earning an annoyed ‘tch’. “Why?”

**“Because it’s fun to listen to, like I said. Something that rarely comes around in here.”**

Naruto smiled. “Yeah, I suppose it is kind of fun. Thank you, I thought you didn’t want to help me though…?”

**“Don’t kid yourself. I am only giving you this because it might make me just a bit less bored in this hellhole. Help _you?_ Pff.” **

He was a little taken aback by the sudden venom in the Kyuubi’s tone, but soon shrugged it off in the excitement at being able to mess around with a new jutsu.

“Oh, okay, I see. That’s fine.”

 **“You say that as if I care whether you’re okay with it or not.”** Came the response. **“You’re talking aloud by the way.”**

“I- I am?”

**“Tch.”**

OoOoO

“Welcome to Niju Buki! Can I help you at all?”

The cheery welcome came from a kind-looking man at the checkout. He was smiling gently as Naruto and Iruka walked in, the former looking about him in awe. This store was just… amazing! Tools and weapons of every kind filled the walls of the building, so much so that he could barely see what colour they were painted in the first place. Everywhere he walked he had to weave and turn, as the floor was absolutely full of weapon stands and things, and there were even some more interesting weapons mounted to the ceiling.

Iruka chuckled at the boy’s antics, heading straight to the man at the checkout. “Hey Gen, long time no see!”

“Heya ‘Ruka, how are you doing? Are… hey, is this the-“

“It is, that’s him.” The chuunin muttered, carefully keeping his voice low so that the boy in question wouldn’t hear him. “A lot happened since I spoke to you last. He’s actually staying with me now, so I can keep an eye on him.”

The man named Gen looked at him thoughtfully. “So I take it you’ve been able to work out what’s going on?”

Iruka nodded, but didn’t explain further. It wasn’t his story to tell.

OoOoO

[several weeks ago]

 _“Hey ‘Ruka, what can I get you this time?”_ Gen called out, as said man entered the shop. He was rearranging some kunai on one of the window stands, checking each one to make sure it was in pristine condition before returning it to the shelf.

_“Three packs of academy kunai please” The chuunin asked, catching the man’s attention._

_“Academy ones? What did the class do this time?” he questioned. Iruka only ever came to get those types of equipment if one of his classes had managed to make a mess of the previous ones. Last time it was that Naruto kid, who’d coated them all in itching powder. The whole batch had had to be thrown away as classes at a time would be taking days off due to “Coming up in itchy rashes in places they shouldn’t have.” It had taken weeks to work out what was going on. Apparently it had been a real eye-opener for the teaching staff too, who realised just how many students hadn’t been washing their hands enough for the itching powder to have so much effect._

_“Actually, it wasn’t the class this time. The kunai needed replacing anyway, but since management are pissed at me they’re making me pay for it.”_

_“Oh?”_

_“Yeah… I might have taught a kid some kinjutsu. But in my own defence I knew it wouldn’t be dangerous to him, and I was doing it to help him out.”_

_Gen didn’t miss the sorrowful look that flashed across his face as he spoke, so he called the apprentice he was training to look after the shop for him._

_“Come on then ‘Ruka, we’re going upstairs to chat. And I’m not taking any excuses.” He commanded, before leading the way to his office-type of room upstairs._

_“Do you have to call me that?” Iruka asked in mock anger._

_“It’s not my fault you couldn’t pronounce your name properly when I first met you ‘Ruka” came Gen’s response, as he smiled mischievously. “I know you were only like a year old, but still. I couldn’t see myself calling you any other name.”_

_They were quiet for a while as Gen had him sit down and poured him a drink. Iruka didn’t fail to notice how the man shut his office door, his hands moving over a seal fixed to the frame for a moment. A silencing tag – made to stop anyone from outside being able to hear what was going on inside._

_But before he could mention it Gen had sat down opposite him with a serious look._

_“And now, ‘Ruka, you’re going to tell me why you looked so depressed when you were talking about this kid.”_

_Aah, so that’s why he was here. As much as he pretended to be a tough guy, Gen was really quite sweet. There were quite a few people who saw him as a more grandfatherly figure because of how caring he was – even though oftentimes those surrogate ‘grandkids’ of sorts were actually older than him. He was one of the only people outside of his colleagues to know that he had been in the ANBU. But then again, it wasn’t exactly hard to see when Iruka had been using this place to fill his standard ANBU equipment list. Anyone who knew their weapons would easily be able to tell when someone was buying for such an occasion._

_He’d opened up to Gen about all his issues when he’d been ‘retired,’ too._

_“I know you. You’re battle-hardened. The last time that kind of look crossed your face was when you told me about Shirao’s death, so I want to know what it is about this kid that’s gotten under your skin so badly.”_

_That was fair enough. And the whole situation was certainly starting to get to him._

_“You remember I was telling you about Naruto? Boisterous kid, always shouting about how he’s going to be hokage one day, always getting into one argument or another with his classmates?”_

_He received a nod from the weapons master._

_“Well, he’s… changed. I don’t know what it is, but something seems to have happened to him. He’s so quiet now. His whole demeanour is completely different to what it was, and I’m so worried that he’s going through something bad but he won’t open up to me. He… well he reminds me so much of myself, of when I was ‘retired.’”_

_“So you taught him a kinjutsu to convince him to open up?”_

_“Sort of. I’d been considering ‘accidentally’ leaving the technique lying around for him to pick up at some point even before this happened, but I kept putting it off for whatever reason. Then one day I just decided that I’d teach him. And like I thought he would, he picked it up almost immediately. And it’s never caused him an issue.”_

_Gen could understand what that was like. Visions of his wife swam to his mind, telling him off for teaching his daughter how to use throwing knives. “She’s FOUR kami damnit, what if she cuts herself up doing it wrong?” Hah, those were the days._

_“So what jutsu was it?” He couldn’t help but ask._

_“The kage bunshin.” Iruka responded, noting the man’s eyes widen considerably. “But he’s a powerhouse, honestly. He’s got more chakra than anyone I’ve ever met. Even the hokage. He always had problems with his control because of it so I taught him the kage bunshin so he doesn’t have that problem. He was going to fail class because of it.”_

_“Okay, fair enough. Out of interest, how many clones can he create?”_

_Iruka had just been taking a drink at the time, so Gen struggled to hear him._

_“Eleven..”_

_“_ Eleven!?” _He exclaimed incredulously. “You’re kidding right? That would cost so much chakra!”_

_But the chuunin was shaking his head, a kind of shocked look on his face. “Not Eleven.”_

_“Oh?”_

_“Eleven hundred.”_

_Gen’s face blanched, so much so that Iruka was concerned for his wellbeing. No one simply turned paper-white and didn’t have a medical reason to do so._

_“ Y-you mean to say… that an eight year old boy… can create over a thousand SOLID clones… at the same time… without killing himself?”_

_“Not just that. When he was done creating them he just turned around, wiped his brow and walked away. He couldn’t understand why I was so shocked – in fact when I asked him he said he didn’t feel any different – at all. All that chakra expenditure and he didn’t even seem to notice!”_

_He paused to take a drink once more._

_“The only time he even felt the effect was when dispelled them all at once, and the information overload made him pass out.”_

_“That’s… That sure is some kid.”_

OoOoO

Back then, once he’d gotten over the shock, he had given Iruka some great advice about helping Naruto to open up – to do nothing. Really. Gen had told him to make sure Naruto knew that his door was always open, to remind him that he would be there should he need to talk, and leave it at that.

Iruka had done just that when the boy had had that episode a month ago, and essentially it had worked.

“So anyway.” He said, changing the subject before Naruto could pick up on it. “I’m going to need a pack of kunai and two of shuriken. And I think I’ll throw in a bokken too. What models do you have?”

“Follow me – I’ll show you if you like.”

Iruka followed Gen to the rail of bokken, motioning to the blond to do the same. It was certainly an impressive stand – the chuunin couldn’t think of a single model that was actually missing. Plus they came with a sheath that could be customised for more comfort to the wielder. The price was pretty great, too.

“Alright Naruto, take a look at these bokken and pick one that you think would suit you best.”

The boy inspected the wooden swords, picking each up and studying it carefully. But he just couldn’t make a decision. Suddenly he put his fingers into a familiar cross shape, and created a group of clones to help him. Each clone busied itself with picking up the sword, and attempting to put the sheath on. Gen shot a look towards Iruka, as if to say ‘I see what you mean,’ before moving to help the clones correctly position each sheath. In the end, Naruto stood before a line of clones, each wearing a different bokken.

“Hey, Gen-san… do you have somewhere a little more open we can go to so I can look at these better please?”

The weapons master did indeed have somewhere that would work – he’d installed it recently due to popular demand, and it had increased his sales rates by far. Even Iruka hadn’t seen this yet. He led the procession of clones through a door at the back of the store – each clone having to adjust their movement to ensure they didn’t knock anything over. They walked past a heavy-looking iron door first, from which heat seemed to radiate, before coming to stop at a simple wooden sliding door, across and up the hall from the iron one.

Naruto, ever curious, couldn’t help himself but ask about the iron door.

“That, my boy, is a forge. One of the best in the country too, I’d wager. We outsource some of our weaponry from other members of the Niji clan, who have a compound near Tetsu no Kuni, but for some of the more unique pieces, we make them ourselves. Sometimes we get orders for custom swords too, so we can use the forge to create those.”

Iruka knew most of this already, but he was more intrigued by the next door. He’d heard that Gen was working on something but he’d kept his lips sealed and just told him to come back another time. 

“And this is my newest place.” Gen continued, sliding the door open and revealing a relatively steep staircase, leading downwards. “Welcome to the testing area.”

The room at the bottom of the stairs was probably twice as big as the shop floor that they’d just come from, with the walls lined in wooden panelling. The floor was made of a kind of hard, laminated wood, with the exception of a square set up towards the far end of the room. The square was a few meters across, and it was covered with around an inch of grey padding. A couple of stands stood off to the side, each holding what seemed to be protective equipment, coloured in red and blue. A fighting area, it seemed.

Along the wall on the left stood a line of what looked like human-shaped teddy bears, each one tied to a post in different positions. The “hands” had slots within them, probably for putting swords in to practice with getting past another’s defence, and they were painted from head to toe in reds and whites. Iruka could see from his own kenjutsu experience that these were markings to show where the most effective attacking positions were.

Along the other wall were logs of wood, not unlike those used at the academy. However these ones were much thicker, and there were a few slash marks in some of them. After Naruto sent a questioning look at Gen, he explained that those logs were made to be used with real swords, whereas the dummies were for practicing with bokken.

In the middle of the room, filling the rest where everything else didn’t, was a series of square outlines painted onto the ground. Each square was perhaps a meter wide. On one of these squares, a young girl around Naruto’s age was holding a very-much-real Kodachi, and she was swinging it around her in a way that had the boy awestruck. She moved with such grace!

She was wearing some kind of pink dress, with green leggings underneath. Her brown hair was tied up into two buns, making her look kind of like a teddy bear herself from behind.

“That’s my daughter, tenten.” Gen commented, watching Naruto’s reaction. “If my calculations are correct, she’s in the year above you in the academy.”

The mentioned girl finished her Katas with a flourish, before letting her stance fall and looking towards the group.

“Hi daddy.”

As she turned around Naruto’s clones were just beginning to file into the room, which caught her attention. Her eyes widened considerably before she rushed over to him. 

“That’s so cool, how are you doing that? You’re wearing swords – are you here to practice? Are you good? Do you want to practice with me? We can fight if you like!” She rambled, clearly excited to see someone else her age interested in weapons.

“Er..” Naruto began, scratching his head. “It’s a clone jutsu. And I’m here to try out these swords so I can see which one would work best.”

Gen laughed as the two of them interacted. “Say, ‘Ruka, shall we go and chat for a bit while Tenten helps young Naruto to pick his sword?”

Iruka nodded, watching Naruto splutter indignantly at being called young despite Tenten only being a year older than him. “Yeah, that sounds like fun. Is that okay with you Naruto?”

It wasn’t. It really wasn’t. Naruto didn’t know this girl, and she was being way too friendly. Honestly he just wanted to stick to Iruka’s side, but the nice man Gen seemed to want to talk to the chuunin in private. So he agreed; after all, he still had to test these swords out, new girl or not.

Tenten grinned and pointed at one of his clones.

“Right! You first! Let’s see what you can do!”

OoOoO

“Well Naruto seems like a much happier person than who you were describing last time we spoke.”

“Yeah, he’s getting better, slowly. I’m glad he’s looking a little bit more like his usual self today.”

“He’s a pretty bright kid, I’d say. He’s going to go far. Are you training him?” He asked, referring to the bokken.

“That’s kind of a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

For the next ten minutes Iruka explained to Gen about how Naruto had managed to work out that he was a former ANBU operative, and how he’d ‘convinced’ the hokage to allow his training. He’d gotten a good laugh out of that.

“I’d heard about that incident, but I never realised that he was the one who’d carried it out. A pure stroke of genius if I do say so myself. I remember when one of my customers came in covered in fluorescent paint. Come to think of it he was there to buy several sets of new operative outfits – maybe he was the one who’d caught Shrapnel in the first place? It would certainly make sense!”

The two were laughing heartily when Naruto and Tenten returned, the former looking rather frustrated.

“It’s no use daddy, he isn’t compatible with any of those swords. Every single one had a problem – the Kodachi was too short, the wakizashi was too long, the tanto was too bulky… he just doesn’t suit any of them!” She exclaimed. In all honesty she just thought he was being picky.

“Well, that’s certainly a surprise. It’s quite rare that a person can’t find a sword that suits them. Usually they move on to the concept of designing their own one from there.”

Naruto perked up at that idea. “Really? Could _I_ try that?”

The weapons master scratched his chin thoughtfully. “We can certainly make you a new sword if you could come up with a new design.”

But the boy shook his head. “No, I mean could you help me forge my own sword? So like, I would make it myself?”

“Aah, a future smith in the making, eh?” Gen smiled. “I tell you what, how about I cut you a deal.”

“A deal?”

He nodded. “The guy who’s running the checkout, did you see him? His apprenticeship is finishing today, so I’ll have a spot open. I can give you an apprenticeship if you’d like – you only have to work on a Saturday, and I can teach you how to use the forge. Plus my apprentices are allowed to use the training room any time they want.”

It was an unexpected offer, but Iruka was happy with it. It would give Naruto access to unique training opportunities, help him learn more about weaponry and generally give him a little more confidence talking to people - He’d noticed how hesitant the boy was about leaving Iruka’s side earlier.

“That sounds like a great opportunity. What do you think Naruto, one day of work in return for some training and your own sword?”

“I… I don’t know. Can I give you my answer tomorrow or something please?”

Gen thought for a moment, before ruffling the boy’s hair. He didn’t miss the almost indiscernible flinch as his hand made contact. He and Iruka glanced at one another, having both noticed it.

“Tell you what, I’ll give you a week, okay? If you’re up for it, come see me at nine thirty next Saturday, and we can start. If you don’t show up I’ll assume you’d prefer not to. Does that work for you?”

Naruto grinned and nodded, prompting Iruka to stand up.

“Thank you for the drink Gen, but we really must be going. I told Naruto we’d head to the market to see if we could find some fabric for his new clothes, so we’ve only got another hour to get there before it closes.” He turned to leave, but paused as he remembered something. “How much do you need for the equipment I bought?”

Gen thought about it, then shrugged. “Eh, no charge. It was nice chatting to you today ‘Ruka, and I might have found a new apprentice because of it too. That’s payment in and of itself.”

“’Ruka?”

The named chuunin groaned.

“I’ll explain it later Naruto.”

OoOoO

[ten minutes later]

“Oooh! Look at this sensei!” the blond called, picking up some fabric. “This would work perfect!”

“Of course you’d pick something like that, Naruto. But you’re right, it would go well. Look, though, there’s not enough. Maybe you could use this fabric and combine it with _this_ one?”

“It’s kinda dark though… but yeah I think it would work. Thanks sensei!”

“No problem student!”

Naruto paused at this, his brow furrowing.

“Is that because I keep calling you sensei?”

“Yep! If you want to call me sensei then I can call you student, right?

“Okay, I got it, I won’t keep calling you sensei…” The boy replied mischievously. “’Ruka.”

Meanwhile the chuunin slapped a palm to his face.

_‘Damnit Naruto!’_

OoOoO

A further ten minutes saw the duo approaching the shop where Naruto first saw the clothes, But before they could enter a familiar voice called Iruka’s name. A shout of “Obasan!” confirmed his thoughts, and the chuunin turned around to see Koyaku powerwalking to catch up to them.

“Oh hey Naruto, I didn’t recognise you in those clothes!” She remarked.

“Well Sens- Iruka shrunk my clothes in the wash so he’s buying me some new ones today.” He explained indignantly. “Also Iruka why are you blushing?”

“Oh, heheh, I’m just… embarrassed about what happened to your clothes is all. Yeah.” The chuunin answered, trying to cover his blatant liking for the Koyaku.

It didn’t work.

Naruto looked between Iruka and Koyaku, squinting his eyes in thought. Then they widened all of a sudden, as the boy spluttered. “Obasan… Iruka and you… You and Iruka… ARE YOU DATING!?”

His shouting had attracted the attention of everyone within a two meter radius, and curious heads began to turn. Iruka groaned and manhandled the shocked blond into the shop, with Koyaku following behind him.

“I’ll explain it later alright?” He hurriedly told him. “Now show me those clothes you wanted.”

Naruto nodded with a grin and showed him to them, the previous outburst forgotten for now. Iruka had to admit, they were pretty good-looking clothes. Not to mention the price tag was on the lower side.

“So Naruto, once we’ve got these clothes done, are you going to be okay to head back on your own? I have to talk to Koyaku-chan about something.” He asked cautiously.

“Yeah, that’s cool. I’m going to work on a new jutsu anyway.”

“You’re creating one?” Koyaku asked, interested in the concept. When she received a nod she continued. “That’s cool! You’ll have to show me when you’re done, okay?”

“Uhh, sure. But it’s… not a very nice one though. You’ll see what I mean.”

“Remember I’m a nurse, Naruto. There isn’t much that’s going to scare me.”

“Fair enough.”

Iruka cleared his throat, getting the two of them to look at him.

“So you’re getting 3 sets of these, in a combination of these two fabrics, and this casual set, right?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. Are you okay to pay for it yourself, or do you want me to do it for you?”

“No thanks, Iruka-S… Iruka. I’ve been buying my own stuff as long as I can remember.”

“Gotcha.” He replied, handing some money to the boy. “There you go.”

But instead of running off and paying, Naruto paused and looked back up at his sensei. “Um, this isn’t enough money.”

Iruka furrowed his brow, double checking the price of the tag. Nope, there was definitely the right amount there, even when you added on the extra price of the customisation, and he explained as much to the boy.

“But what about the taxes?” He asked, confusing the two adults. Seeing they didn’t understand he elaborated. “You know, the ones they make you pay when you get to the checkout.”

It seemed that the chuunin still didn’t understand, but there was a light of realisation dawning in Koyaku’s eyes.

“Naruto,” She began, using _the_ voice. The infamous tone of voice, where everyone in the room suddenly feels like they’re in danger. The sweetest, calmest voice that was still intimidating. Quiet anger, that was it. “How about you show us what you mean?”

He agreed, and went up to the checkout. Once his back was turned, Koyaku took the moment to flash a couple of hand-signs to Iruka. At first he was shocked at the fact that Koyaku knew ANBU communication signs, but that was forgotten when he realised what she was saying. And boy, was he pissed.

The two of them stood behind Naruto, idly browsing the shelf they’d chosen to look at as they kept their ears trained on the conversation.

“Um, hi.” He began. The cashier just glared at him. “I have these clothes to buy. And for these three can I have them customised with these two materials please?”

“Sure you can.” He responded icily as Naruto handed over the money. “You know this isn’t enough right, kid? You need to pay the taxes. Unless you’re trying to steal from me?”

“N-no I’m not, I-“

“Get out of here, kid.”

“Well then can I have the money back?”

The cashier snorted. “What money?” He asked, after having stashed it away.

But before Naruto could answer he felt a hand on either shoulder, and looked up to see Koyaku and Iruka staring daggers at the man.

“Naruto, honey, could you wait outside for us please? Don’t worry about the money, I’ll sort it for you.”

The boy made a noise of affirmation, and left the shop as quick as he could without outright running. Killing intent was beginning to saturate the air and he sure as hell didn’t want to be around to find out why.

OoOoO

Five minutes later, the two adults left the store with a contented smirk on their faces. Iruka was holding the one set of clothes that Naruto had got for casual wear, and was about to hand it to the boy when he realised that he was otherwise occupied.

“I got you an ice cream Iruka, Obasan. I didn’t know what you liked so I just got you Iruka’s favourite. Is that okay?”

Koyaku took the two ice creams while Iruka handed him the clothes, then took his cone gratefully.

“You didn’t have to do that you know Naruto.” The chuunin told him.

“It’s okay. The kind man at Niju Buki made me realise it’s good to be good sometimes.”

Once the two had offered their thanks to Naruto, he decided it would be time to leave and try on his new clothes. And so he bade his goodbye to Iruka and Koyaku, and started to jog away from them.

“See you later, Naruto! Be back home for sunset, alright?” the chuunin called after him. Koyaku was strangely quiet as he left.

Once the boy had faded from sight, the nurse finally lost her composure, panting slightly and grabbing a drink of water from the nearest market. Once she’d finished chugging, she threw the correct amount to the vendor, before marching up to Iruka.

“Seriously Iruka, what the hell?” she half-yelled, scaring him.

“What did I do?”

“You have _wasabi_ on your ice cream!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Niju Buki directly translates to ‘twenty weapons,’ but the shop name is translated to Niju weapons, as that’s Tenten and Gen’s clan name. Since Tenten’s surname doesn’t exist in canon, I wanted to come up with something comical that would match her family shop name. Hence she is now called “Tenten twenty” xD


	9. Growth 4 - Training

**_ Growth 4 - Training _ **

_“So Naruto, once we’ve got these clothes done, are you going to be okay to head back on your own? I have to talk to Koyaku-chan about something.” He asked cautiously._

_“Yeah, that’s cool. I’m going to work on a new jutsu anyway.”_

_…Once the two had offered their thanks to Naruto, he decided it would be time to leave and try on his new clothes. And so he bade his goodbye to Iruka and Koyaku, and started to jog away from them._

_OoOoO_

“I rather enjoyed that.” Koyaku remarked as they exited the building. “It’s been so long since I’ve been out for a meal, and doing so with you just made it all the more enjoyable.”

The chuunin beside her spluttered, a blush growing on his cheeks as he tried to formulate a response. She didn’t seem to mind though, as she smiled when she spotted his expression, before looping her arm around his.

“My home’s actually not far from yours.” The nurse continued when it became clear he was too nervous to say anything more. “So I’ll walk back to yours with you, if that’s alright?”

“That-that’s okay with me. But shouldn’t I be the one offering to walk you home?” Iruka managed to reply. “Make sure you get back okay and all.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Iru-kun. But we’re actually both walking each other home.” Koyaku replied, taking pleasure in the surprised look he was giving her. “I literally live at the bottom of your street. You probably haven’t noticed as I tend to take the back exit to work.”

She was right; he hadn’t noticed. That was kind of embarrassing – he was an ex-ANBU, kami damnit, he should have noticed!

But before he could say anything else, he realised with a shock that they were already turning into his street. They’d taken a different route than normal, and he’d been so preoccupied with trying not to blush so hard that it hadn’t even registered.

“How did we get here so fast?” he asked, confusion clear on his face.

“I know a lot of shortcuts.” She replied. “I used to walk around the village a lot when I was bored. Just running around the training fields didn’t hold the same enjoyment for some reason.”

That was fair enough. Iruka only used the training fields to run as they’d usually be empty, and anyone who saw him would continue with their own training. It was how he liked it. But if Koyaku preferred bustling streets, who was he to judge?

They arrived at his house moments later, as it was right at the top of the road.

“So… it’s been great to see you today, Koyaku.” He mumbled, scratching the back of his head. “When you’ve got some time, you’re welcome to come over for awhile. Naruto told me I make nice food.”

He inwardly cursed himself for that. It made him want to cringe violently.

“That sounds fun.” The nurse answered, causing him a mental sigh of relief. “I’m not in until the afternoon tomorrow, I could come over then?”

“Sure. I’ll look forwards to it.” He smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Okay… I’ll see you.”

He turned to his door, about to unlock it, when he felt a hand on his arm.

“Iru… wait…”

When he turned back around to look at her, he was shocked to see her right in front of him. Before he could ask what she was doing, Koyaku moved forwards, capturing his lips in hers. Once the initial shock subsided, Iruka found himself melting into the kiss, closing his eyes and all but forgetting about everything other than the beautiful woman in front of him.

Eventually they had to break apart to catch their breath, and Iruka was glad to see that she was blushing almost as much as he was.

“That…” He started. “was just-“

“IRUUUKKAAAAAA!”

The chuunin couldn’t finish, as Naruto’s voice drowned out the rest of his words. The two of them turned to the side, looking at the boy approaching them. Iruka had been about to admonish him for ruining such a perfect moment, but his appearance instead rooted fear deep within him.

“Iruka, obasan, Boss is… well I don’t know what’s happening but it’s not good!”

With that he took off, running back the way he came, with the two adults hot on his tail.

As if the sense of sheer panic on what they assumed to be Naruto’s clone wasn’t bad enough, a once-over of the running blond confirmed the pair’s fears. A thin layer of red chakra coated him, forming into two ears atop his head. A single tail made of the same chakra weaved at his back, too.

There was no mistaking it. Naruto was under the influence of the Kyuubi.

OoOoO

[Two hours & thirty minutes ago.]

Naruto whistled approvingly as he checked out his new clothes in the mirror. Of course he missed his old jumpsuits, but this casual outfit definitely looked just as good. And these clothes didn’t constantly bring his memory back to what happened, either. The jumpsuits had been a necessity buy from the cheapest charity shop he could find after a particularly nasty civilian had broken into his house and ransacked the place, tearing every piece of clothing he could find into shreds as he did so.

That civilian was now spending his life in jail – particularly as he’d taken the time to beat Naruto up when he returned home to find him there. But he’d still been stuck without any clothes, and he’d been forced to find whatever he could get his hands on. The suits themselves grew on him though, and he came to thoroughly enjoy wearing the colours orange and blue. Alas, when he grabbed the casual clothes to wear while he waits for the custom ones, He’d managed to find the perfect set.

He was wearing a simple zip-up hoodie, not unlike the jumpsuit jacket he used to wear. But this one was instead black, with orange fabric adorning the waistband at the bottom and the edges of his sleeves. The zip was orange too. He had managed to find some simple jogging pants that were the exact shade of blue as his jumpsuits, too, and some fingerless gauntlet gloves – the ones with one large hole instead of individual finger holes – in the same colour.

Through a stroke of luck Naruto had been able to find a small leg-bound pouch to wear too, In a slightly darker orange than his hoodie. He didn’t really have anything to put in it yet though, given that he didn’t really carry any tools around with him – they would be confiscated otherwise because “You’re not a shinobi yet.” 

But as he stood in the mirror, the boy couldn’t help but glance back at the goggles laying on his bed. He loved those goggles, and they were definitely useful at times, but they just didn’t work with his new clothes well enough for him to keep them as a permanent fixture.

He picked them up carefully, placing them over his eyes and looking to the mirror. As he’d thought, they still looked fine when he was properly wearing them, but not so much when they were on his forehead. They pushed his hair up, and for some reason it just didn’t look right. But, wait - Just wanting to have the goggles with him didn’t mean he had to wear them all the time, did it? And he had the perfect place to put them, too.

He grinned for a moment, removing the goggles and placing them in the pouch on his thigh. There, now he had a way to keep the goggles _and_ something to fill the pouch!

The grin faded into a small smile as a growl filled his mind.

**“Are you done admiring yourself yet, or should I just go back to sleep?”**

Naruto pouted at the Kyuubi’s bored tone, but moved away from the mirror nonetheless, and sat on his bed.

**“What are you doing?”**

“Getting ready to test out the jutsu?”

**“Not here, you’re not. I’m not giving you any chakra until you head to one of the training fields.”**

That was unexpected. He’d figured that he could just do the jutsu in his room, since it didn’t involve any destruction or whatever, but obviously not. The boy sighed quietly, before vacating the space he’d just sat down on.

“Okay, which training ground?”

**“Preferably one as far away from the village as possible. The one you ran past after your last prank will do. And stop talking aloud already. I’m hated enough without everyone thinking you’re plotting something with me.”**

Naruto wasn’t sure how to do anything else, so he tried imagining himself talking aloud instead.

_‘Why do I need to go so far away?’_

It seemed to work as he received his answer almost immediately.

**_‘Do you not pay attention to anything around you? If you start practicing that jutsu around people you’re going to have an ANBU team slitting your throat before you can say “Killing intent.”’_ **

_‘Is that concern I can hear in your voice?’_

**_‘No.’_ **

The Kyuubi went silent after that, probably seething at his comment, and the blond chose to do the same. He instead turned his mind to the events of the day so far. Just what had Obasan and Iruka said to that cashier? He’d seemed pretty terrified when they’d turned up behind Naruto at the counter, and they seemed quite pleased with themselves afterwards. Still, his clothes had been ordered now, so he didn’t really have anything to complain about.

 _‘Is this place good enough?’_ He asked his captive as he walked into the training field. This field was one of the largest ones accessible to him, so being on one side didn’t necessarily mean he was far enough away for the furball’s liking.

**_‘It’ll do. Now the first thing you’re going to need to do is separate the chakra. You wasted a fuck ton of the stuff when you tried it on that drunk, so now you need to work out how to use my chakra and only mine to perform it.’_ **

_‘And how am I supposed to do that?’_

**_‘I told you I wasn’t going to be helping you.’_ **

_‘But you also told me you want me to get this jutsu down because you’re bored and it’s fun.’_

Unbeknownst to the boy, the Kyuubi was gritting his teeth within the seal, some kind of cross between a snarl and a grin crossing his face.

**_‘Fine, here’s my advice. Ask the spectator.’_ **

_‘The spec- Oh. Got it.’_

Naruto looked around him, searching for someone. “ANBU-san, can I talk to you for a moment please?”

As he spoke, he spotted a tiny movement from the forested area of this training field, as an ANBU operative seemed to forget his concealment for a half-second in his shock at being addressed. A moment later he saw that the blond was staring intently at him, and realised he’d been made. Oh well, the boy wanted to speak to him anyway.

Naruto’s face turned ghostly white as the ANBU jumped down to him, and he took a few steps back in shock. But he wasn’t looking where he was walking, and promptly tripped over a rock. Before he could fall though, the man leapt forwards and caught him, his right arm under the boy’s left arm, holding his back, and his left arm on his shoulder. His face only seemed to pale further at the close contact, and his eyes had seemed to glaze over slightly.

“It’s you…” He whispered. The ANBU had only been able to hear him at all because he’d learned to read lips as part of his training.

But before the operative could respond, the blond’s knees had buckled and he was forced to put his concentration into keeping him upright. The ANBU lifted him over one shoulder, and used his other hand to seemingly grow a wooden chair out of the ground before placing him into it and checking him over. Naruto was conscious, but he seemed to be dazed.

**_‘What’s going on kid?’_ **

_‘It’s him.’_

**_‘You’re going to have to be more specific than that. I’m not a mind-reader’_ **

_‘Yes you are.’_

**_‘Tch. Brat. I don’t read your mind, I see your thoughts. And when your thoughts are one big mess of nothing I can’t exactly tell what’s going on. Now stop zoning out and explain what’s going on before he decides to take you to the hospital.’_ **

_‘Right.’_

“It’s you.”

Naruto said the last part out loud, addressing the man before him. He didn’t seem to deny it, but then it’s not like he’d spoken a word so far in the first place.

“How did you know?” He finally asked, straightening up from his crouched position as he determined that nothing was physically wrong with him. “You were barely conscious.”

“I… don’t know.” The boy answered truthfully. “I just knew for certain as soon as you showed yourself. I guess I must have committed your aura to memory or something – it changes when you’re trying to conceal yourself.”

“Hold on a second. Let me get this straight. You can sense me when I’m concealing myself?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re proficient enough in sensing that you can determine the difference between concealed and normal chakra.”

“Yep, pretty much. Don’t ask me how though, I just sort of… did it.“

The ANBU was shaking his head incredulously, prompting Naruto to ask him why.

“The fact that you can sense chakra at all at your age is incredible, Naruto. Even children of sensor clans struggle to recognise chakra at this age.” He answered. “So even if you were just good at sensing that would surprise me. But the fact that you can sense someone even when they’re concealing their chakra, as well as realise that each signature changes during concealment… well it’s pretty damn incredible.”

The boy’s eyes were shining as he digested the information. From what everyone else had told him he’d thought that he was less-than-average; that he had to work twice as hard to make the same amount of progress as everyone else. But then here was this man, telling him that he was actually very gifted!

**_‘Just because he said you’re gifted in sensing chakra doesn’t mean you’re not below average in literally every other subject.’_ **

“Damn fox.” Naruto muttered in response, forgetting for a split second that he was in the presence of an ANBU. An ANBU whose head seemed to snap up at the mention of what could be the Kyuubi.

“What did you mean by that?” He asked, his tone suddenly formal despite the casual way he’d been talking earlier.

**_‘Lie.’_ **

“I- I was talking about a fox. A fox that ripped my clothes yesterday. That’s why I’m wearing different ones today.”

“You do realise that I was on duty yesterday too, right? And there are no foxes in Konoha.”

Crap. Naruto sighed.

“So you’re aware?” The ANBU asked, careful not to give too much information away in case he was wrong.

“Yes, I’m aware. He contacted me a while ago and explained everything. He’s a bit of a grouch but he’s helping me to create a new jutsu today so I can’t really complain.” He responded. For some reason the operative before him seemed to tense up.

“What do you mean ‘create a new jutsu’”

**_‘What do you think it means? Idiot.’_ **

“Well I did something a while ago and accidentally had an effect on people.” Naruto answered, tactfully ignoring the Kyuubi’s comment. “So I’m practicing with it and he’s helping me to practice because he’s bored.”

“And how is he helping?”

“He’s lending me a tiny bit of his chakra so I can do the jutsu. It relies on him.”

The man grabbed him by the shoulders, seeming to look him in the eye. But with the mask in the way he couldn’t be so sure. “I don’t like the sound of this Naruto. You do remember what it’s capable of, right?”

It seemed like Naruto was going to respond to him, but as he opened his mouth his face went slightly vacant, as he seemed to be listening to something.

**_‘I see now, I see. This is the person who found you when you were attacked, correct?’_ **

_‘Yes.’_

“He said that you’re the person who stopped me from losing control when I started pulling on his chakra last time, back when… that happened.” The boy said, repeating what he’d just been told. “He said if you’re so unsure about it then why not stick around so you can be sure that if it happens again you’ll be around to stop it.”

The fox had made a fair point.

“What exactly is this jutsu?”

“I’m not exactly sure. But when I tested it on a drunk that was trying to hit me he sort of crapped his pants then ran off screaming.”

Behind the mask, the ANBU raised an eyebrow. “…interesting.”

“So would you be okay with that… uh, ANBU-san?”

“…Fine. I’m here ‘til sundown anyway. And for the record I am Yamato. What do you need to do first?”

“He told me to work out how to separate his chakra from mine when he puts it in to my system.”

**_‘I have an idea. Create a clone, tell it to relay what I’m saying. You can concentrate on your work, let the clone do the talking.’_ **

Naruto did as the Kyuubi told, placing his hands into a cross shape and watching as a clone formed. When Yamato asked him what he was doing, he explained what he had been told, then watched as the clone performed a henge.

“I didn’t order you to do that?” Naruto remarked, but his statement sounded more like a question. The clone had changed into the human form that the Kyuubi had chosen to take on during their first meeting.

The clone shrugged. “He said it would be easier this way because of the stuff you’re going to do later or something.”

The original shrugged back at it, before turning to the ANBU.

“So Yamato-san, do you have any tips on how I’m supposed to separate chakra?”

OoOoO

[twenty minutes later]

“Okay, I think I’ve got it now.” Naruto said. Over the past twenty minutes, with a couple of tips from Yamato – who happened to have a lot of good information thanks to his kekkei genkai – he’d been able to work out how to sense the differing chakras within him, and for the most part separate them from one another. Being able to completely separate them should have resulted in the adrenaline rush of sorts that came with the chakra to dissipate, but he still could not do it well enough to reach that effect; instead simply reducing the effect drastically.

“Okay, Create a few clones to stand in a circle, equal distance away from you. You can join in on this one too Yamato, if you want to.” The clone spoke up, relaying instructions almost as if he were the voice of the Kyuubi himself. Naruto for his part did as instructed, and Yamato chose to stand directly behind him, if nothing else to ensure he would be close enough should he lose control.

“Start pushing his chakra from your body, slowly. To those around Naruto, when you feel the pressure start walking backwards until you can’t feel it any more.”

Almost as soon as the clone stopped talking, Yamato could feel it. The crushing presence of the nine-tailed beast. It was stronger than he’d expected it to be, and he had to fight the urge to start suppressing Naruto’s chakra right away.

 _‘He’s not losing control,’_ He told himself. _‘He has full control.’_

Despite the words he repeated in his mind like a mantra, Yamato’s retreat was on shaky legs, and he almost breathed a sigh of relief when he had finally stepped back far enough to feel the pressure gradually diminish. Not for the first time he was exceedingly glad that he was wearing his mask, as he didn’t particularly want Naruto seeing the amount of sweat pouring down his face. Though if the expressions of his clones were anything to go by, they probably wouldn’t be focusing on Yamato’s face any time soon regardless.

Meanwhile the clone that had been created for the Kyuubi was listening to more instructions.

**_‘Watch for gaps in the circle. As one forms, create clones to fill it. Tell them we’re going to continue until every one of them is out of the range, then Naruto can drop the jutsu on my… well your signal. But he is not to move from his position.’_ **

It relayed the message, then began creating clones. By the time they’d all removed themselves from the jutsu’s range, there were well over two hundred clones in the circle.

“So your range for now is a half kilometre.” Kyuubi’s clone continued. “Now you’ve got to focus on direction. The clones circling him, I need you to take five medium steps forwards. Those of you that no longer have a place to stand in the circle, position yourselves half a meter behind the main circle.”

The clone turned to the ANBU, whose body language seemed to be tense. “Yamato-san, are you okay? You’re welcome to sit out of this you know. It’s not a big deal.”

But the man seemed to take this as a challenge rather than anything else, and he straightened up. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Besides, I’m staying close, you know, _in case._ ”

Yamato received a nod of affirmation, before the clone turned back to the group once more. They’d all obeyed their orders in the time that it had been speaking to the masked man, so their circle was now smaller and well within the range of the jutsu.

“Clones – and Yamato, - turn your backs to Naruto. Boss, take this stick.” A stick was thrown across the circle, bopping Naruto on the head before he caught it, muttering curses. “Use it to draw a circle around yourself in the mud. That’s your boundary – you’re not allowed to leave that area. You’re going to pick one of the clones, or Yamato I guess, and focus your intent on them. While you’re doing this the circle are to raise their hands when they can feel the intent. Otherwise they could change their appearance or something… basically just make sure we know when you can and can’t feel the pressure. Okay?”

A chorus of yesses filled the area.

“Okay, he’s going to start channelling some chakra. Everyone get ready.”

Knowing what the pressure would feel like this time around certainly helped him to begin with. But as they were around the edge of the maximum range it had started out small and built up. With his back to Naruto he had no way of telling if he was trying to focus the pressure on him, but he sure hoped that the current intent he felt was the most that he’d experience for today. Instead of raising his hand to notify that he could feel Naruto’s jutsu, he chose to use his mokuton; creating a small log of sorts which protruded from his back. Focusing on the chakra control required for his own jutsu helped him to distract himself from the pressure bearing down.

Yamato soon felt the chakra begin to dissipate slightly, little by little. He responded by lowering his log a tiny bit, but didn’t fully lower it as he could still feel it nagging at his mind.

“I can’t do any better than that, what can I do?”

Despite himself the ANBU looked over his shoulder, to see that almost a quarter of the circle were no longer indicating that they felt the chakra. He was on the outer edge of this quarter, hence why he could still partially feel it. Naruto himself was stood with his arms by his side, staring intently at one particular clone who seemed to be sweating slightly.

_‘So he’s still able to focus it somewhat, even when he can’t reign it all in.’_

“Kyuubi, do you mind I give him some advice?” Yamato finally asked, looking to the clone until he received a nod to continue. The boy’s concentration had broken with his suddenly speaking, and turned to look at him. The jutsu had dissipated without him focusing on it and so the clones were taking the opportunity they’d been given with gratitude. “So the Kyuubi told you can’t set foot outside the circle. But it said nothing about other parts of your body being out of there, did it?”

“What does that have to do with anything though?”

“Naruto, what do you do before you use a jutsu?”

“Hand seals, I guess?”

“And what are hand seals used for?”

“To focus ch- OH!” Naruto seemed to understand his point as he turned back to the unfortunate clone. But the ANBU wasn’t done talking yet, and called him again.

“But that’s not going to help you fully. It might make it easier to control the chakra _within_ your body, but you’re still not going to be able to do much with that. You’re still making a mistake.”

“I am?”

“Tell me. Where are you expelling the chakra from?”

Naruto thought for a moment. This time around he didn’t need any further prompts to understand the man’s point.

“I have to focus the chakra and expel it from one place in my body, not all of it at once.” He answered. Hole in one. “So if I focused my chakra in one point it’s going to come out in only one direction. And, and if I focus it from my hands I can hold my hands outside of the circle and direct it even better!”

Yamato smiled, but didn’t say anything else. He instead turned around, and listened as the clone that was relaying the Kyuubi warned everyone to get ready once more.

OoOoO

[One hour later]

Naruto took a deep breath, holding it in. One, two, three. As he exhaled, he focused on the chakra flowing through his system. The adrenaline coursing through his veins slowing as he removed it from his system. He had no need for shaking hands right now. He took a second deep breath, this time placing his hands into a half-ram seal. One, two, three. Exhale. The powerful chakra began to compress within him, gathering in each hand. It was almost warm to the touch. One final deep breath, clearing his mind and switching on his senses. One, two…

Someone is watching.

He could feel them, their signature clearer than ever. Not only that, he could feel the direction of their chakra. An almost-exact location was presenting itself to him.

“What happened?” The clone asked on the Kyuubi’s behalf. As the fox was unaware of the reason for distraction, he’d chosen not to establish direct telepathy, and continued in his ‘mascot,’ of sorts.

Naruto chose not to answer as he focused the chakra again, almost unaware of exactly what he was doing. But instead of expelling the chakra, he sent it to his eyes, enhancing his sight tenfold. Everything was crystal clear, and with his newfound clarity the boy could see what he was looking for. Several kilometres away, hiding within the far treeline, there was a person. A female, it would seem, if the blue-black hime-cut and the shape of her body were to be considered.

He began to move towards her, stepping from his circle and walking purposefully. But the female realised that he’d seen her, and before he could even get to the edge of his circle she’d vanished. Naruto stopped in his tracks, peering into the treeline curiously.

“Naruto?”

The call came from Yamato. He was watching the blond intensely from his place in the circle, searching his face for any sign of hostility.

“Boss” The clone nearest to him whispered in his ear. “Your eyes are red.”

“I thought I saw something.” He stated, to clear Yamato’s suspicion. The man nodded, and a tiny degree of tension slipped from his shoulders, but he kept his eyes locked on Naruto.

 ** _‘You mean you saw something but let it get away.’_** The Kyuubi remarked, having finally realised something had happened and switched back to him.

“It doesn’t matter. We should get back to what we were doing. And for the record my eyes are red because for some reason I decided to push chakra towards them. As it happens, I can enhance my vision by a lot that way.” He walked back to the circle.

**_‘Here’s a fun fact for you too. When you do that, I can see too.’_ **

_‘Meaning?’_

**_‘Damnit kid, don’t you ever listen? The only thing I normally get to see in this damn place is the cell I’m locked in. I haven’t seen anything like this in over eight years.’_ **

Naruto shrugged the conversation off, noting that he’d been staring into space during that time. He cleared his throat more out of habit than anything else, and closed his eyes once more.

He could feel the left over chakra from what had just happened in his system. The Kyuubi was trickling more in; he focused on it. His body began to shake violently as the potent chakra took hold, vying for control of his muscles. This was normal.

Breathe in. One, two, three.

The shaking subsided, leaving him in a blissful state of calm. His awareness of his surroundings seemed to grow – background noises that were normally a hum becoming clear as day. The blowing of the wind, the rustling of trees. The small ‘pat’ of a leaf hitting the ground.

All normal.

Breathe in. One, two, three.

A half-ram seal calmed the raging tides of his chakra coils. They flowed peacefully, ready to submit to his commands.

Breathe in. One, two, three.

The chakra focused in his hands once more, heating them up. The air had rapidly begun cooling over the past hour, so he was almost glad for the warmth.

Breathe in, One, two…

He opened his eyes, searching out a target. His eyes fell on Yamato. He raised his hands, right palm pressed into the back of his left hand, fingers together but on opposite sides in a sort of ‘X’ form, his right thumb hooking around his left wrist. He levelled a gaze at the ANBU’s back from between his hands, with a look of sheer concentration on his face.

_Three._

He exhaled, quickly but steadily, pushing the chakra from his hands at the same time. As if he was blowing the vapour from a hot drink. The chakra began to sting as it seemed to heat up further, but he didn’t mind the sting. It helped him to focus. The air in front of him seemed to warp slightly as the invisible chakra heated it up.

Yamato knew he was the target. He just knew. The moment Naruto’s third exhalation began, his neck had begun to tingle, his skin crawling and goose bumps rising all along his arms.

He felt the heat first. It wasn’t searing, but it was hot nonetheless. He resisted the urge to remove his mask; it was trapping the heat to his face and the metal plate he wore underneath it was heating up almost unbearably.

Then came the pressure.

It fell upon him like a building, weighing down on him until his head grew light with stress. Every muscle in his body seemed to scream in agony, tightening and cramping like a noose. His heart pounded, adding to the cacophony of blood rushing in his ears. It seemed like he spent hours, suspended in what felt like a black hole threatening to pull his intestines right out of his abdomen. Yamato barely registered as the clone mascot’s voice called out to Naruto.

And then, like a switch had been turned off, It was gone.

The ANBU fell to his hands and knees, releasing a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. His lungs ached almost as much as the rest of his muscles as he gasped for air, a sense of fatigue gripping him. He could feel bile rising in his throat, and forced his mask off of his face with a snap just in time to splatter the ground with the contents of his stomach. He’d have fallen face first into the puddle had it not been for the clones beside him catching a shoulder each, and pulling him to lay on his back instead. Yamato knew he’d broken policy By removing his mask, but as he stared at the sky, feeling the cool breeze float across his face, he couldn’t give a single solitary shit. Not one.

Naruto – or at least what he assumed to be the original Naruto as the others seemed to back off as he arrived – peered down at him, a combination of fascination and concern evident on his face.

“I’m so sorry Yamato-san, I didn’t realise it’d be that powerful. All the other times I guess I missed, or something.”

Naruto’s apology seemed to sober the ANBU up, as he managed to claw himself back up into a sitting position, wiping his mouth. His muscles still ached with the cramping they’d endured, but at least he was regaining his ability to think now. And now that he was a bit more conscious, he couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of the situation.

“Well this is pretty familiar, eh? Oh how the tables have turned.”

A flicker of sorrow marred Naruto’s expression for a moment as he looked away, realising what Yamato had meant. The ANBU cringed at this.

“Fuck. Sorry. That was uncalled for.” He tried to amend, but it didn’t stop the guilt that was boiling within him.

“No, it’s okay. You’re right though, it is familiar. Is this how worried and guilty you felt when you were in this position? Well, not guilty in your case I guess, but still.”

“I should imagine it is.” _‘And I feel more guilty than you’ll ever know.’_

The clone mascot approached them, eyes flickering between Naruto and Yamato. When he spotted the Kyuubi-lookalike, the blond stood to talk to him.

“He says that that’s all you’re doing tonight. It’s clear you’ve got the jutsu down, but he said if you keep doing that you’re going to burn your hand further than he can repair. So for now he wants you to dispel your clones, and you can work on the intensity and speed of your jutsu another time.”

The boy nodded and put his hands into a cross, as the clone beside him gasped suddenly.

“BUT NOT AT THE SAME-“ The clone was unable to finish his sentence as he was dispelled in a puff of smoke, alongside more than two hundred others.

Yamato understood almost immediately what the clone was trying to say, and his blood began to run cold - A stark contrast to the stifling heat that had been consuming every fibre of his being only minutes before. He could only watch in horror as Naruto froze in place, his breath becoming shorter and shorter. He was hyperventilating, and fast.

But not even two seconds later, a potent orange-red chakra burst forth from his abdomen, spreading over his body to form a thin coating from head to toe. At his head and lower back the chakra condensed, creating two long ears at the former and a single tail at the latter.

Yamato knew exactly what this was.

He scrambled to his feet – or at least he tried to, but the weakness from the killing intent sent him sprawling back to his knees. But he couldn’t just watch as the boy was consumed; there was no way he could just _let_ that beast take him over! So he tried once more to stand, an adrenaline rush giving him the strength to do so. But as he stumbled towards the boy and raised his hands, a noise rang out across the clearing that froze him in his tracks.

**_“NO!”_ **

It was Naruto that had spoken, but it sounded nothing like his voice.

“Kyuubi?”

 ** _“Yes. Now listen carefully.”_** The fox sounded tense, stressed even as he spoke. **_“My possession is the only thing that’s keeping him alive right now.”_**

The adrenaline wore off, and Yamato fell once more, this time not even able to get to his hands and knees. But he still spoke to the Biju before him.

“I need to seal him, now! If he reaches two tails I will no longer have the power to suppress him!”

**_“It won’t get that far. His body is drawing on my power, but I’m not giving any more than this. He doesn’t have long though.”_ **

With that, ‘Naruto’ sat up, creating a clone. The clone seemed to be coated in the same chakra too, and it ran off without a second glance at either of them.

“What are you doing? You’ll be seen!”

**_“The clone is not under my control. It is under strict orders to use its newfound sensory improvements and locate somebody close to him. Once I- ugh- Once I recede into the seal he’ll be hyperventilating once more, and the only thing that’s going to bring him out of this is that teacher of his.”_ **

Yamato’s fingers clawed into the dirt as he willed his body to move. But the chakra rolling from Naruto was a less-concentrated form of the hell he’d just been through and just the sheer memory so soon after the event was filling him with lead.

“Don’t you dare take that boy. Don’t you dare. I swore to the hokage that I would protect him and I swear again, to you, to kami, to anyone. Even if it kills me to do so I will ensure that you would pay.”

**_“As admirable as your courage is, I have no intention of allowing this boy to die.”_ **

“Your word?”

Now the Kyuubi hesitated. He knew the repercussions that a promise like this would involve. But now wasn’t the time to be selfish – he could do that all he liked when the boy was safe.

**“My word.”**


	10. Growth 5 - Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on I'm going to be including a kind of extract at the bottom of each chapter, like a side story. It's going to be called Memoirs of the nine-tailed fox, and it'll be written from the Kyuubi's point of view. This concept is directly taken from "Better left unsaid" by Kenchi618 (On ff.net). It's a great story and it has a similar sort of thing at the end of each chapter, except in this case it's a sealing book or various omakes. Thanks for the idea Kenchi :3

" _Don't you dare take that boy. Don't you dare. I swore to the hokage that I would protect him and I swear again, to you, to kami, to anyone. Even if it kills me to do so I will ensure that you would pay."_

" ** _As admirable as your courage is, I have no intention of allowing this boy to die."_**

" _Your word?"_

_ Now the Kyuubi hesitated. He knew the repercussions that a promise like this would involve. But now wasn't the time to be selfish – he could do that all he liked when the boy was safe. _

" **My word."**

** Growth 5 – Recovery **

The ANBU nodded, but did not drop his head. He'd heard from others about the power of promises made by bijuu, but that still didn't mean that he would embrace the comfort of unconsciousness until he knew the boy was safe once and for all.

" ** _They need to hurry, though, or the choice will be taken from me."_**

"What do you mean?"

" ** _The seal does not allow for me to fully possess him; it's fighting back against me. It will drag my consciousness back, and I'll be trapped. He will continue to draw on my chakra and this time around I will have no power to stop him."_**

"Is there nothing you can do to stop this?"

Yamato's concern began to grow as the seconds stretched by. The Kyuubi had failed to answer him, and he didn't know why; prompting him to fear the worst. He was about to try to scramble back to his feet when he heard the bijuu speak again, filling him with relief.

" ** _There might be a way."_**

The Kyuubi manipulated Naruto's body to rise to his knees, shuffling forwards until they were directly next to each other. The ANBU was watching him apprehensively, unsure what was about to happen. 'Naruto' raised his right hand, clumsily placing it on Yamato's shoulder, as if he was barely in control of his own actions.

He supposed that was true, to a degree.

" ** _Given your reaction to my chakra previously, this may feel uncomfortable."_** The demon told him. He wanted to ask what that meant, but before he had a chance to speak his question was answered for him.

A sensation of heat began to radiate in waves across his body, starting at the hand on his shoulder. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling per se, but it was certainly a strange feeling to have foreign chakra moving around within his body. Yamato could feel his muscles tensing again and braced for the cramping to begin, clenching his eyes shut tight.

But the pain never came, and as the warmth began to fade he was left feeling much stronger than he had been before.

" ** _My chakra has healing properties, that small amount should have given you enough to move now."_** The Kyuubi said, as Naruto's body collapsed back. **_"It works faster within the boy thanks to his Uzumaki heritage, but it still works nonetheless."_**

It took everything Yamato had to force his body into a seated position, but he managed it eventually. There were wisps of chakra left in his system that mixed with his own, making him feel stronger than ever before – well, he did on the inside, anyway.

"You intend me to suppress him should you lose control. Correct?"

It seemed that the demon was about to answer, but a new voice cut over him.

"Naruto!?"

Iruka jogged over to the prone figure, closely followed by Koyaku. He barely noticed Yamato sitting there, such was his concern for the boy. The chuunin fell to his knees beside him, checking him over for a sign of life.

" ** _The boy is unconscious right now. I am possessing him."_** The Kyuubi said, startling the two new arrivals. Koyaku simply stared at 'Naruto's' eyes in horror, taking in the blood-red tinge and the slit pupils in silence.

"What do you mean? What have you done, nine-tails?" Iruka growled, his voice deepening in anger.

" ** _What I have done is save the boy's life."_** Came the response, more confusing him than anything else. **_"When I release my possession he will become conscious once more. He will begin siphoning more and more chakra from me, and the seal will prevent my interference. Yamato will keep my chakra in check."_**

"Yamato?"

"Over here."

The clone that had been sent to find Iruka and Koyaku had stayed with the ANBU when the group had arrived, and with the extra help he'd been able to get to his feet, leaning heavily on a wooden staff he'd created. Iruka's eyes widened as he realised who was there, and he took a momentary step back. The chuunin had known this man back when he was in the ANBU himself.

"Ten-"

But Yamato cut over him sharply.

"No. Yamato."

He then moved his hands, falling into the black-ops-communication signs to pass a message to him. Iruka understood immediately and signed back, before turning back to Naruto's form.

"What do you need me to do?"

" ** _Be there when the boy wakes up. He needs someone he can trust to calm himself down from this; and you're one of the few people who he holds in that regard."_**

The former ANBU operative nodded, a part of him honoured that Naruto felt that way. But there was a more pressing matter to attend to here, so he pushed that thought out of his mind to deal with later.

" ** _I'm releasing."_**

It wasn't hard to see when Naruto had awoken, as his breathing had begun to increase to a rapid pace within seconds. He sat up, looking around him in a sheer panic as the chakra enveloping him began to bubble and warp. It was growing.

Yamato's hand began to glow with green-tinted chakra, and the "sit" kanji appeared on his palm. He stumbled to the boy, placing a hand on his chest for a moment, before withdrawing back. As his hand left Naruto's chest, a line of blue chakra seemed to keep them connected; growing in length as the man walked further back. With a grunt of exertion, he pulled back at the chakra one more time, and the ground began to shake slightly. A number of wooden pillars extended from the ground, embedded with spikes all pointing towards Naruto. As the pillars settled into place, the chakra surrounding the boy seemed to slide away from his arms and legs, gradually moving in towards his abdomen.

Once the chakra had dissipated back into the seal, the ANBU retracted the pillars, collapsing to the ground as the exhaustion took its hold again, and the demonic chakra that had been keeping him standing ran out.

Naruto had lain still after the chakra had been suppressed; staring vacantly towards the sky as if he was unaware of what had just happened. But as Yamato fell to the ground, the clone had tried to save him and instead ended up being pulled down itself, promptly dispelling. The sudden input of memories seemed to trigger Naruto, rousing him from his calm state and sending him back into the hyperventilation that had started the whole thing in the first place.

Sensing his turn was up, Iruka leapt towards the blond, enveloping him in a hug just as he sat up. He whispered words of comfort into his ears, talking about anything and everything as he tried to calm him down.

"Come on Naruto, it's okay. It's alright, I'm here. You can get through this, we're all here to help you."

And gradually, Naruto began to relax.

OoOoO

Naruto could swear that his head was being split in half. Every slight noise seemed to beat down on his poor brain, sending sharp pains shooting through it. And he could forget about looking around, too – even the slight movement of light behind his tightly closed eyelids was excruciating. He groaned, digging his face further into Iruka's jacket. How he got there, he had no idea.

"Naruto?"

That was Iruka's voice. Or was it Yamato's? He didn't know. It hurt to hear, anyway.

"Headache. Light hurts." He replied, his voice a little muffled as he was still pressed into his sensei.

They must have understood what he'd said, as moments later a hand was placed on top of his head, and a buzzing sensation seemed to emanate from it. It didn't take more than a few seconds for the ache to reduce into a dull throb, and the boy found he could now open his eyes and look around him.

He and Iruka were sat on the ground, facing one another. Koyaku was behind the chuunin, and Naruto could see Yamato slumped on the ground nearby. But almost as If he could sense the blond's eyes on him, the ANBU raised his head and gave a weary smile.

"Yamato-san..." He asked seriously. "Is that really what my jutsu felt like?"

"I'd imagine it was worse for you, though." Was the reply, as the downed man nodded. "You had it a hundred times over."

"No, I didn't. It just felt like the same event happened several times in a row. Like if I'd hit you with the jutsu a hundred different times. But it was the emotion that got to me, I guess."

In truth, Yamato had an unfortunate feeling that his dosage had been much higher than the rest, because the boy had still had the residual chakra from his botched attempt flowing through his system. Not that he would tell him that, of course.

"Would someone like to explain to me what you're talking about please?" Iruka interjected before they could converse further. "I've just watched my s- student get possessed by the Kyuubi, get sealed away, not to mention the fact that he's just had a panic attack too!"

"Oh, right, sorry Iruka. I was practicing a new jutsu."

"The one you were talking about before?"

"Yeah. The one I said I would test on you."

"Go on then."

Naruto paused, remembering the events that had just occurred.

"Um, I don't want to any more. Not on the people I care about." He said slowly.

"You already told me it wasn't a very nice jutsu before, Naruto. After everything I've told you, are you going to tell me I can't handle it?"

The boy closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and pointing wordlessly to Yamato, who was still looking at them. Iruka seemed to get the gist of his pointing, and a terse nod from the on-duty ANBU sent a shiver down his spine. But Naruto seemed to think he still hadn't made his point.

"I especially don't want to because of what you told me Iruka. The jutsu, it... it has a habit of... bringing things up. I didn't realise until my clones gave me the backlash; that's what caused this problem here."

"Does you jutsu have a name?" Koyaku asked, having finished with his headache and stepping back to look at him. The boy realised that actually, he hadn't come up with a name for the jutsu yet.

He cocked his head to one side for a moment, before a gruff voice gave him a suggestion.

"Mister nine calls it Akuma Toei no jutsu. (Demonic Projection technique.)" Naruto replied. "Or that was his suggestion. I like it, so I'll keep it."

He could see Iruka and Koyaku think it over for a moment, before the former's eyes widened considerably.

"You don't mean..?"

"It's exactly what you think, Iruka. I take some demonic chakra and condense it up, then go like this and project it at someone." The boy responded nonchalantly, mimicking the stance he'd held earlier. "But I can't show you, I don't want to do that to you. It feels horrible."

"Okay, that's fair. So what do we do now?"

"Yamato-san needs to head to the hospital, by the looks of it." Koyaku called, having gone over to the man at some point. "Where is your mask?"

"I had to remove it lest I splatter my own face with vomit." He replied. "Of course that's meant exposing my face to the boy."

"Don't worry about that ten- Yamato. I'll ensure that your identity remains a secret." Iruka held out a hand, which Naruto declined and hopped to his feet with ease, creating a trio of clones.

"I'll take him to the hospital, obasan. I put him in this position so it's only fair."

Koyaku nodded, but reminded him that she was a nurse and would be following him straight there. She shook her head when Iruka remarked that it was her day off.

"Necessary sacrifice, Iruka-kun. Besides, I could do with the overtime."

With that Naruto and his clones bent down, picking the ANBU up carefully. The nurse waited until their backs were turned, then approached the chuunin hurriedly. When she got to him she planted a brief kiss on his lips, startling him, before bidding him goodbye. "I'll come see you later tonight if that's okay."

Iruka just nodded dumbly and watched her go.

Yamato only needed two clones to pick him up, so the other clone bent to pick up his mask and fix it to his face. Naruto had noticed the two of them behind him but chose not to say anything; instead turning to his casualty of sorts.

"Are you... will you tell anyone about Akuma Toei?" he asked tentatively.

"I'll only have to tell the hokage. He's my boss so I don't have much choice there. But if you're worried about being punished, then you can rest assured I'm pretty certain he wouldn't do that. And if he did I'd make sure to stop him."

Naruto nodded, a grateful expression on his face. "And in return I won't tell anyone about what you look like. It's only fair."

OoOoO

"Sorry Naruto, but when we're treating ANBU only doctors and nurses are allowed access." Koyaku told the boy, ruffling his hair as he pouted. "Why don't you go back and talk to Iruka for a while?"

He was about to answer her, but before he could he spotted a familiar face walking down the corridor.

"Inoichi?" He called. "I'm going to talk to him for a while. See you later, obasan!"

"Hey Naruto, what's up?" the older blond replied. "I've just finished my last appointment, so I've some time if you need to talk."

Naruto nodded. For once Inoichi was struggling to read his expression. It was different to any emotion he'd outwardly expressed in their previous appointments, so he'd had a feeling the boy might want to talk.

"Please, if that's okay."

"Well we can find an empty room here if you like? Or we can walk back to the Yamanaka compound. I have an office so you don't need to worry about anyone else hearing."

"I think I'd like the walk."

As they walked down the corridor, Inoichi had been stopped by a nurse looking to talk to him for a second. The Yamanaka had sent Naruto on, apologising profusely and telling him he'd meet him in the reception area in ten minutes.

The boy found his mind wandering to the events of the past day once more when he'd finally settled. The way that Yamato had reacted to his Toei really stuck in his mind – was he really capable of having such an effect on people?

' ** _Don't flatter yourself. It was my chakra that did that, not yours. I could possess you and make you slit your own throat in two seconds if I wanted to.'_**

' _You still saved me though.'_

The Kyuubi stayed silent after that. Naruto just figured he found it too much effort to answer him, but in truth, the bijuu wasn't able to. A wave of agony had coursed through him, leaving him almost breathless if it weren't for the fact that he didn't actually need to breathe.

It had started when he had spoke of killing the boy. And a pain like that? There was only one cause.

' **My promise...'** He muttered to himself, unheard by his captor. _'_ **What have I done?"**

OoOoO

"Sorry about that, Naruto." Inoichi smiled sheepishly. "I just had to sort out a schedule with one of my apprentices. She's one of the people I'm teaching to do my job as a counsellor."

In the time Naruto had been in the hospital, the sun had set, and a gentle breeze had begun to blow. There were several clouds dotting the sky, too.

"Looks like it'll rain tonight." The older blond remarked, to which Naruto simply nodded. They walked in silence for a while longer, before he decided to speak again. "If you don't mind, why were you at the hospital anyway?"

"It's a long story." the boy replied. He knew Inoichi would respond with the usual "I've got time" response though, so he continued before he had a chance. "I created a jutsu. I didn't realise how strong it was, and the person who let me test it on them had to go to hospital to recover."

"That must be some jutsu. Who did you test it on?"

"It was an ANBU who was keeping an eye on me. I sensed him and asked if he could give me some tips and he ended up getting included."

Anyone trained to detect subtle movements would have noticed the way Inoichi's steps faltered for just a moment.

"My jutsu is kinda the reason I wanted to talk to you, actually." Naruto continued, fortunately oblivious to the Jounin's pause. "I wanted to know... if there was any way to stop flashbacks from happening."

"I'm sorry to say there's no easy way to stop them."

Naruto's face fell, but he picked up on the man's deliberate wording. "No _easy_ way?"

"That's what I said. There is a way to stop yourself from flashing back, but it's going to be hard on you." The grave look on Inoichi's face was all he needed to see to understand the gravity of the situation. "What are your triggers?"

"Being on the receiving end of my jutsu. I had a panic attack when I dispelled the clones I'd practiced on."

"Then it's relatively simple. To stop your flashbacks from happening, you have to deliberately trigger them hundreds, even thousands of times, bring yourself through those horrible memories until you're so used to them that they don't even cause you to flash back in the first place."

"That sounds horrible." Naruto commented, paling considerably at the idea of it. "But if it's what I have to do in order to get better, then that's what I'll do. At least I can practice the jutsu at the same time."

The pair were drawing near to the compound gates.

"So, do you mind telling me what this jutsu is, exactly?"

"It's called the Akuma Toei no jutsu." He replied, lowering his voice. The older blond seemed to understand what the name meant. "I take the chakra and I stand like this, and project it at someone. It feels really strong, and really hot. And with the ANBU I tested it on it made all his muscles cramp up and made him sick."

Inoichi was opening the compound gate, and so he chose to let the boy talk.

"Iruka wanted me to show him the jutsu. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it, because of how bad it is. I don't want to practice it on anyone I care about so that means I don't have any way of testing it on anyone but myself."

"You know, I might just be able-" The Yamanaka was cut off as a shrill female voice reverberated around the compound.

"What's _he_ doing here?"

Ino Yamanaka, Inoichi's daughter, leaned out of what Naruto figured was her bedroom window, sending a heated glare at him. Naruto, for his part, just looked at the ground.

"Young Naruto here was just telling me about a jutsu he's been working on. I brought him back to talk to him about it, because I have a colleague who'd be interested in training him."

"You do?" The boy exclaimed in awe, before remembering himself. "I mean, that's right."

Ino just scowled at him again, before withdrawing back to her room.

"Inoichi, did you really mean what you said about your colleague?" Naruto asked, once he was settled in the man's office.

"I did. We both work in the same department, and I know for certain that a jutsu like yours would be incredibly helpful." He replied. "The question is whether you'd be able to handle it."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't tell anyone I told you this, okay?" Inoichi asked seriously. The boy nodded at him. "We work in the ANBU, in torture and interrogation. A jutsu like yours would be perfect for... encouraging certain captives to talk."

Whatever reaction the Yamanaka had been expecting, it certainly wasn't this. The very moment he'd told Naruto about his affiliation with ANBU, a glimmer had formed in his eye, which had only grown when he continued to speak.

"Oh right," Naruto said. "I haven't told you yet."

Now it was Inoichi's turn to ask the same thing that the boy had only a couple of minutes earlier.

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't told you about how I'm training to join the ANBU!"

OoOoO

Almost two hours had passed as Naruto talked about everything that had happened since their last meeting. The Jounin was genuinely intrigued by his conversations with the Kyuubi, and the younger blond was happy that he was the first person not to treat this news with disdain.

It wasn't until he'd finished telling his story that Naruto realised just how heavy his eyelids were beginning to feel.

"I should go, Iruka will be wondering where I've gone." He told the man. But before he could say any more there was a flash outside.

Inoichi was the first to the window, opening the curtains and looking out at the torrential rain that had arrived as they'd been talking. A few seconds later the rumbling of thunder explained the flash they'd saw, prompting the man to look at the boy.

"It'd be rude of me to make you go out in that weather, especially when your house is on the other side of the village. I can sort out the spare bedroom for you, if you'd like."

Naruto hesitated for a moment. He'd never really stayed anywhere other than his old flat and Iruka's house, so he was unsure about whether or not he would be comfortable. But then he looked at the Yamanaka, who was studying his face with a gentle smile, and realised that he trusted this man almost as much as he did Iruka.

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like that please."

"Of course not. It's what the spare room is there for, after all."

True to his word, less than half an hour later Inoichi led Naruto to the spare room, pointing out the locations of different rooms on the way. He was happy to know that the room had an en suite – at least then if he needed to use the bathroom he wouldn't have to worry about disturbing anyone.

"I won't be going to bed for another hour or so, as I have a couple of things to do first. So if you find you still need to talk to me, I'll be in my office. Otherwise you're welcome to do some drawing or reading, if you'd like to."

The boy nodded. "Goodnight Inoichi" He told him with a small smile. The Jounin simply crouched down, coaxing him into a hug.

"See you in the morning."

When the Yamanaka had left, Naruto took a moment to look around the room. It wasn't much larger than his room back at Iruka's place, but it was certainly different. The bed was larger, and there was a desk in the corner beside it, underneath a window which was obscured by a set of blinds. The desk was stocked with paper, pens, pencils, and a few other pieces of stationery. A bookshelf in the opposite corner stood from floor to ceiling, holding a variety of books from fairy tales to psychology theories.

He was considering looking at some of the books when a gruff voice pulled him from his thoughts.

' ** _Kid. I'm going to cut you a deal.'_**

' _A deal?'_ The boy asked with interest.

' ** _I'll teach you how to control your jutsu, and in return you give me a clone to instruct every now and then.'_**

' _What are you going to do with a clone?'_

' ** _First of all I want to write.'_**

This confused Naruto, until the Kyuubi decided to elaborate.

' ** _There are too many misconceptions about the bijuu. I wish to correct them by writing a book. And hey, who knows? You might get to make some money out of publishing it. So it's a double win for you.'_**

' _And in return you'll help me work on my jutsu more?'_

' ** _Exactly.'_**

There was no question in it for him. He knew that there was little the Kyuubi could do within his clones that would cause harm, and all he'd have to do is create a single clone under the instructions "Do what the Kyuubi says – within reason."

His clone would ensure that nothing bad happens. And it could just dispel itself if things got too bad too.

' _Okay, I'll do it.'_

' ** _Great. I'd like a clone now. You can do as you wish – read, sleep, whatever. Just leave a clone.'_**

OoOoO

In the early hours of the morning, not long before sunrise, the residents of Inoichi Yamanaka's house were awakened by an anguished scream. It was quickly muffled, but the sound had ripped through the house, sending everyone into high alert.

Ino in particular was shaking with the adrenaline rush that coursed through her veins. With a well-practiced movement, she pulled out the kunai she kept hidden under her bed, and crept towards her door.

Inoichi had given her the kunai when she turned six, and told her to always keep it accessible in her room. She'd never really understood his reasoning for her to do so – not until now, in any case.

When Ino opened her door, she stuck her head out tentatively. Looking first to her right, she made sure the area was clear before turning to her left – and nearly letting out a scream of her own as her father's silhouette loomed over her.

"It's okay, Ino. Go back to bed." He muttered, before hurrying past her and down the hallway.

Ino chose to obey her father, and collapsed back on to the bed. She was still shaking from the shock, and she knew even as she began to calm down that she certainly wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon.

The older Yamanaka, however, went straight to the spare room, knowing exactly what had happened even before he entered. Naruto was curled up on the bed, weeping and mumbling incoherently while a clone crouched beside him, seeming to be comforting him as best it could.

There seemed to be a few things different about the clone, but Inoichi chose to ignore that for now in favour of ensuring Naruto was okay.

He sat on the opposite side of the bed to the one Naruto was laying on, and touched a hand to his shoulder. The boy flinched violently, putting his hands up as if to defend himself from his 'attacker,' but seemed to sober up when he realised who it was.

"Inoichi, I'm sorry, I-" He tried to say, but he was shushed by the man.

"Don't apologise for something out of your control. It's okay." Inoichi reassured him. "If anything, I'm the one who's sorry. I should have realised after you told me about how bad your reaction was and gave you some sleeping aids."

"I still woke you up though."

"It's okay Naruto, my alarm goes off in half an hour anyway. I'm an early riser."

Naruto tried to tell the older Yamanaka that he was okay, that he didn't have to keep an eye on him, but the man stayed next to him for almost twenty minutes as he got the panic out of his system. They made small talk throughout this time, the normalcy helping him to calm down and regain his senses.

"I'm going to get you some tablets, okay? I'll give you a minor one so you'll only be out for an hour or two at best, but these are specifically designed to make sure that you won't have any more dreams." He eventually said, when the small talk had tapered off.

He lingered only long enough to hear some affirmation from Naruto, before leaving the room and heading to his office to grab the medication. The clone that was following the Kyuubi's instructions sat back at the desk and continued writing.

Less than a minute later his footsteps returned, surprising Naruto as to his speed. But when he heard a knock and a feminine voice called his name, the boy realised that he had been mistaken.

The door handle turned, but the door didn't open right away. The person behind seemed to be hesitating, or maybe listening for him to tell them not to enter. But after hearing no response at all, the person must have decided to enter anyway, as the door opened to reveal a very different-looking Ino.

Different-looking because she didn't have her hair straightened to a razor's edge and a face full of makeup. She glanced at the clone at the desk, but since it was ignoring her she chose to ignore it.

"I heard dad talking to you." She said bluntly. Even the way she spoke was different to when she was in class. "I don't know what's happening, but it must be bad."

"Nah." He tried to feign nonchalance. "It's just a couple of bad dreams."

But the girl wouldn't take that excuse. "I'm not stupid, Naruto. I've followed dad around enough to know when someone's just got nightmares."

"It's none of your business." Naruto snapped at her. Why oh _why_ did he decide to stay here?

He'd expected Ino to snap back at him after that. That's what she usually did. But instead she seemed to just deflate.

"I know. I'm sorry."

She turned to leave again, one hand on the door.

"And… I'm sorry for the way I've treated you in the academy. It doesn't take a genius to see you're hurting – I'm sorry if I've made that worse."

And with that she did leave, closing the door behind her with a muffled click.

She saw her father on the way back to her room. He seemed to understand what had happened, but he just nodded and walked past her. A silent request for her to go to bed.

When Inoichi entered the spare room again, he found that Naruto's eyes were beginning to drift closed. He placed the tablets and a glass of warm milk he'd made on to the bedside table, before shaking him gently.

"Your meds are here Naruto. If you need anything else you know where I am."

The boy nodded his thanks, and grabbed the milk just as soon as the man had left the room. Less than ten minutes later he was fast asleep, in a blissful state of unconsciousness.

OoOoO

When Naruto awoke, he was initially confused as to his location. But when his clone brought a sheaf of papers to him with messy writing scrawled all over it, his memories began to return.

He groaned when the clone dispelled itself after putting the papers safely away, as he basically had to relive the events of the night. For some reason having a clone that stayed awake all night seemed to make him feel much more tired.

He didn't stay for long once he'd trudged down into the kitchen. Both Ino and her father were sat down there, and while the latter greeted him with a bright smile and an offer of coffee, the haggard expression on Ino's face filled him with guilt. The way she caught his eye for a millisecond before looking down at her lap didn't do anything to help that either, so he only stayed long enough to try this drink that the man was offering him, then made the excuse that he needed to let Iruka know where he was.

"Thanks for everything Inoichi," he muttered once he was out of earshot of Ino – or so he thought. "Talking about everything really helped. And the coffee, that was really nice. It helped me wake up too, which is cool."

When he got back home he was faced with a rather anxious-looking Iruka, who wrenched the door open before he'd even reached for the handle. But instead of shouting at Naruto like he was expecting, the chuunin just reached for him and enveloped him in a hug.

"I've been worried, Naruto. Koyaku told me you spoke to Inoichi, but when you didn't come back I was so scared something happened to you." he exclaimed, looking the boy over.

"I did go to Inoichi's. But with the storm he said it'd be best if I stayed in the spare room instead."

"Told you!"

The shout came from Iruka's living room, and Naruto knew immediately who had said it. When he finally freed himself from the tight hug that Iruka had trapped him in, he jogged through to find exactly the woman he'd expected to see sat on the sofa.

"Hey obasan!" he called. But then he realised something from the say before, and smirked. "Sooo... you and Iruka, huh?"

He could hear the chuunin splutter behind him, and his smirk grew.

Yes, it'll definitely be fun to mess with him.

OoOoO

[The previous night]

Iruka stirred from his pacing as a knock sounded at the door. When he opened it he discovered a thoroughly soaked Koyaku. He ushered her quickly into the house, grabbing a towel for her to dry her hair as best she could. The rest of her clothes seemed okay as she'd been wearing waterproofs.

"Koyaku, where's Naruto?" he asked frantically.

"He wasn't allowed in the room when we took Yamato in so I told him to come back here. But he saw Inoichi and said he'd go talk to him for a while. He probably got caught in the storm and decided to stay."

It served to calm the chuunin down a bit, but he was still anxious.

"Come on, which way is the living room? Let's talk." She continued, pulling him through when he pointed the way. "He's a good kid. Even if something happened to him, he has the fox on his side by the looks of things. He'll be okay."

"I sure hope so."

"Anyway, I have a slightly more pressing matter to talk about."

Iruka cocked his head slightly, intrigued by her words. "What matter would that be?"

"When were you planning on telling me you were in the ANBU?"

His blood ran cold for a moment as he stuttered, trying to formulate an answer. But in the end all he could come up with was a single word.

"How?"

"Easy." She answered, with a kind of smirk on her face. "You're not a medical professional, therefore the only reason you should know the ANBU communication signs is being an ANBU yourself."

Iruka gave her a blank look. She let out a small sigh, before repeating the signs that he and Yamato had flashed towards one another earlier that day.

"Later." Koyaku said, as she signed the translated words. "Okay. Good to see you again."

"So you know ANBU CS?"

"I'm one of the nurses dedicated to treating ANBU. Of course I'll have learned that."

The chuunin slapped a palm to his face, before standing up and deciding to make himself busy.

"I have some cheesecake in the fridge. Would you like some?" He asked.

"That depends. Do you have wasabi in your cheesecake too?"

Iruka just laughed sheepishly.

OoOoO

Memoirs of the nine-tailed fox chapter 1

Introduction

I am the nine-tailed demon fox. Some of you may know me as the Kyuubi. I am a bijuu, a construct of demonic, evil chakra which many of you humans seek to control. My chakra is a source of power unlike any this world has otherwise seen.

I am one of nine bijuu spread across the globe; and due to my possession of nine tails I am also the strongest.

I am known because I am evil. Because I am the metaphysical incarnation of all of the hatred and evil within the world, and of course I act as such.

...Except I do not.

The introduction I have just given you is riddled with untruths and ignorant rumours created by humans so scared of the truth that they choose to tell lies.

The truth is that I am no demon. I am no evil creature, and I am certainly not here to spread terror and chaos.

Like my fellow bijuu, I was created in the name of peace.

I will not force you to read this book. It is not in my nature to do so. But if you are willing to question the stereotypes, break the bonds that the actions of our captors have created, then I invite you to take part in this unique opportunity.

But I warn you; curious reader. The truth is far from what you believe it to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akuma Toei is supposed to be called Akuma Tōei, but it's annoying to keep writing out the accents so I'm leaving those out. Sometimes the jutsu will be referred to as Toei, just to make it easier and less monotonous than constantly writing out the whole name each time.
> 
> I have a deviantart page under the same handle as this username. 
> 
> If you'd like to go there and check out the folder I've compiled of companion art for the fic, you're welcome to follow the link here: ( https://www.deviantart.com/LabraBell/gallery/69600777/Hinata-s-Hero-Companion-drawings )
> 
> Alternatively if the link doesn't work, go to the deviantart URL and add /labrabell on to the end of it, and look through my gallery for a folder named "Hinata's Hero Companion Drawings"


	11. Growth 6 - Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto fails to see the signs and discovers a hidden talent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should Naruto discover the instructions for the Hiraishin?
> 
> Poll is on my fanfiction.net profile under the same name. Alternatively, you can let me know what you think in a PM, comment or review. If I get no response to this question whatsoever before the time comes to write it in, then I’ll automatically take that to mean that he WILL find the instructions.
> 
> Bear in mind that finding the instructions and actually learning the Hiraishin are both two separate things. Just saying.
> 
> For some reason the spacing between chapters messed up on this one, and probably on the next one too. I'm too lazy to edit through it all, esp when it's 0413AM right now

Naruto yawned widely as he walked down the corridor, making note of the glances that his classmates were throwing at him. Unlike the normal hostile ones, there was a degree of curiosity mixed into them, courtesy of his new outfit.

Iruka had picked up the customised clothes in the early morning, hoping to get there and back before the boy could wake up. But unbeknownst to him Naruto had left a clone for the Kyuubi to borrow that night, which decided to wake him up the moment the front door closed.

He definitely preferred the curiosity though; even if it did mean that he was getting more attention than he’d have liked.

Naturally there were still the bullies here and there, but they didn’t do much more than call him names – most of them had heard rumours about his run-in with a drunkard and chose to keep their distance. Though they wouldn’t admit that they were scared of him, of course. They’d just say something stupid like “I don’t want his idiot personality rubbing off on me.”

At long last Naruto was in the classroom, closing the door behind him almost silently before looking around. There were quite a few people inside already – it was one of the few times where he’d woken up at a more “normal” time, so he’d been later to arrive. Iruka, as usual, had an earlier schedule to meet so he had set out at least an hour before he did.

The boy began to walk up the steps, not really paying attention to the people around him as much as focusing on the seat he was approaching. But as he walked past one of the front-most benches, a timid-looking girl caught his eye, and he stopped to glance around at her.

Seeming to sense that he was looking, she raised her eyes to meet his for a split second, before gasping slightly and hunching down.

Naruto shrugged, confused at her behaviour, but chose to head to his seat anyway. When he got there though, he couldn’t help but steal glances at her every now and then. From what he could recall she was a Hyuuga, and if his memory served him correctly she was the girl he’d taken a beating for when he’d ran into some bullies messing with her when they were really little.

Hinata was her name. He seemed to be able to remember that much even after several years. But that wasn’t why she caught his attention.

_‘Several kilometres away, hiding within the far treeline, there was a person. A female, it would seem, if the blue-black hime-cut and the shape of her body were to be considered.’_

Had it been Hinata watching him that time? Could he even make that connection from the tiny amount of evidence he had? Surely lots of girls had blue-black hime-cut hair.

Then again, if he were to focus on the auras in the room, there was definitely one that felt close to the one he’d felt back then. If only he could borrow some of the Kyuubi’s power to enhance his sensing capabilities further… but alas, the fox wouldn’t let him just randomly borrow chakra.

****

**_‘Not to mention the fact you’d sent at least three of the people in this room crazy as my chakra would send their own sensory abilities haywire.’_ **

…and that.

The sound of the door opening signalled an influx of latecomers crowding into the classroom, including two arguing girls who were screeching the place down. Ino and Sakura, of course.

Once upon a time he’d liked Sakura. But after she’d repeatedly put him down, sometimes literally,

Naruto realised that she just wasn’t the sort of person he could fall for. Honestly now he wasn’t so

sure what he saw in her a year ago.

Of course the latecomers were followed by Iruka, corralling them in before sitting at his desk. He and Naruto locked eyes for a moment, and the latter nodded as his mind was brought back to the day before.

[flashback]

_“Okay then Naruto, I’ve decided I’m going to try something new with you.” Iruka told the boy. Once the two of them had had a quick breakfast with Koyaku, they had gone their separate ways – Koyaku heading to the hospital, and Iruka dragging Naruto to a nearby field to do some training._

_“We’re not doing anything especially physical today, because I want to make sure you take time to rest after yesterday. So I’m going to teach you something I use all the time. I reckon it’ll help you too.”_

_Naruto perked up. If Iruka used it all the time, then it must be good!_

_“So what are we doing then sensei?”_

_The chuunin smirked at his excitable attitude._

_“We are going to learn… Shinobi sign language.”_

_Any hint of enthusiasm died out immediately, and Iruka couldn’t help but chuckle at the boy’s face._

_Oh, if only he’d had a camera._

_[End flashback]_

Once the teacher had shown him a few basic signs – and drilled them into him through the use of clones – they’d devised a kind of game to play during the academy hours, to keep him from falling asleep. The sleeping episodes had decreased by a lot since he’d moved in with his sensei, but they

still happened, and this was a way to stop it.

The aim of the game was for Naruto to constantly keep an eye on his sensei for hidden clues throughout the class day. The clues would be given in the form of hand signs that he’d been taught the day before, and if he got all of them right he’d be treated to some ramen at the end of the day.

If he had to be honest he couldn’t remember half of the signs they’d learned the day before, but at least it helped him to think about something other than the Hyuuga in the front row.

OoOoO

By the time lunchtime rolled around, Naruto had picked up on a total of zero hand signs. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been concentrating on his sensei… much. He just couldn’t get the realisation he’d had about Hinata out of his mind. In the end he’d formulated a plan, and picked up the courage to catch her by the arm before she could leave the classroom for lunch.

“Um… Hinata, right?” He asked, noting how the girl’s face seemed to turn red almost instantly. “I was wondering – I mean, if you’re not busy or anything of course… Well, I wondered if you’d like to grab something to eat after class today?”

If it was even possible, Hinata seemed to grow redder, prompting the blond to lean towards her, looking her in the eyes.

“Are you okay? You look like you’re going to pass out.”

As it happened, that was exactly the position the Hyuuga was in, as she tried to stammer out a response. The room had begun to spin slightly as the blood rushed to her head, and the boy’s voice was beginning to sound rather muffled.

Naruto was about to speak again when his sensei’s voice cut through the room.

“Naruto.”

He looked over at the chuunin, still keeping a hand on the Hyuuga as she’d seemed pretty unsteady. The boy tried to ignore the raised eyebrow and the small smirk that was pulling at his lips as he spoke.

“I’m going to head to the staff room, I want to talk to you before I head to lunch myself so meet me there when you’re done okay?”

“Gotcha, sensei.” Naruto replied in a more serious tone than normal. “I won’t be long.”

Iruka nodded to him before taking his leave. The blond watched as the chuunin closed the door behind him, before turning back to Hinata.

By this point she’d seemed to have been able to calm down somewhat, although her face was still pretty red.

“I-I’ll come with you t-tonight.” She replied, lowering her eyes when he looked at her again in an effort to stop herself from fainting. “S-shall we meet at the entrance?”

“That’ll be great, thank you. I’ll see you then!” Naruto waved, patting her shoulder once more before turning and almost sprinting out of the door towards the staffroom. Hinata just stared after him, forcing herself to remain standing until he had faded out of her sight. But that point her legs wouldn’t hold up much longer, and she fell against the wall, sliding down until she was in a seated position with a dreamy smile.

When she’d finally woken up, she opened the door to find two pairs of eyes staring curiously at her.

OoOoO

“You needed to talk to me sensei?” Naruto asked, not bothering to knock as he walked into the classroom, earning a glare from Mizuki, the support teacher who worked alongside Iruka during physical lessons.

“I did indeed.” The chuunin replied, pulling out a few sheets of paper and turning to him. “I meant to show you this morning but it completely slipped my mind.”

The boy looked at the top sheet, furrowing his brow as he tried to make sense of the tightly packed handwriting on there.

“Aah, I’ll make a better copy later, of course. But this is the schedule I’m going to have you follow for the next few months.”

“I can’t read it, your handwriting’s too small.”

Iruka laughed, pulling the sheet back to him and explaining the meaning of each box.

“See these here? These are days of the week. I wrote a schedule for each day like this.” He told him, before pointing at each day. “So look, from Monday to Friday you have class, so of course you’re not going to be training at those times. But for two hours each day we’re going to do chakra training, and when you improve on your control we’ll start on something else. I left Friday open since you already have physicals on the afternoon anyway, and I want to make sure you have a day or so to rest.”

“Got it.”

“I’ve left Saturday free, too. If you take that apprenticeship then you’ll need the break in your schedule for that anyway; otherwise it’s another rest day. Then on Sunday I’m going to have you working on your taijutsu, kenjutsu and a few other things. Or at least, we’ll get your kenjutsu on the way when you find a sword that fits you.”

“Okay, I think I’ve got all that.” Naruto said slowly. Then his eyes widened as he spotted his sensei flashing one of the communication signs they’d gone over. Well, it probably wouldn’t be winning any free ramen, but at least he caught that one. “I don’t know about the apprenticeship though, I’m not trying to be a shopkeeper.”

“Do you want to know what I think?” Iruka asked him. Naruto nodded. “I think you should accept it. Gen and tenten are extremely talented bukijutsu specialists, so when you’re not working you could see if they’d give you any tips. Plus there’s the fact that you’d be able to learn to make and repair tools – that’s a really useful skill in the shinobi world, especially for the career you want to go into.”

He was careful not to mention Naruto’s ambition to join ANBU while there were other teachers in the room – that was meant to remain under wraps.

“Plus there’s the pay too. And the training room.”

“That’s true. Anyway, now I’ve shown you that, you can go and eat your lunch, okay? Well, if you can keep your eyes off Hinata for long enough.” The teacher teased, smirking as Naruto began to turn red.

“It’s not like that, sensei. I thought I recognised her from somewhere, so I wanted to make sure.”

“By inviting her on a date?”

“A d- _what?”_ He spluttered. “I was just asking her if she wanted to… Oh. Oh, that does sound like a date. But I wasn’t asking her that, honestly.”

“Heheh, I believe you Naruto.” Iruka let up, secretly eager for the boy to go so he could eat his own lunch. “So I’ll see you after lunch then.”

“Yeah, okay. Don’t skin me if I’m late please.”

“Well that just depends on how late you are.”

Naruto didn’t answer though for some reason, instead letting out a small gasp; prompting the chuunin to turn around from his desk to see what was going on. The boy was staring at Mizuki, who was cleaning his equipment while he waited for the next lesson.

He seemed to sense that he was being watched, as he turned around not long after, and levelled another glare at Naruto.

“What do you want?”

Iruka watched as Naruto walked forwards, seeming to be looking at something on the other

teacher’s desk. But it was blocked from his view in his current position, so he wasn’t sure what it was.

“Can I borrow this for literally two seconds please?”

It looked as though Mizuki was going to refuse, but then his hostile glare seemed to switch into a polite smile, and he told him to go ahead. Naruto thanked him and grabbed the thing, bringing it over to Iruka.

It was one of the blades from a fuuma shuriken, the chuunin realised. They could be taken apart when needed, so that the bearing inside could be cleaned to prevent rusting. Each shuriken split into seven parts, including the four blades, each with the outline of a quarter-circle set into the handle. The quarters clipped together into a full circle, with a solid circular piece of metal on either side to keep the bearing, which was fitted inside of the outline, into place.

**[A/N: I’ve put a descriptive drawing on my DA profile.]**

“This is it sensei!” the boy exclaimed, shoving the blade in his face. He had the sense to pull his head back slightly as it threatened to add a new scar to his pre-existing one.

“What do you mean?” Iruka asked, not really understanding. “It’s a fuuma blade.”

“I mean,” Naruto replied, twirling it around in a way that made the chuunin rather nervous. “This is it! This is the shape I want for my sword!”

OoOoO

Once Iruka had come to understand what Naruto was getting at, he’d promptly grabbed his lunch and motioned to the boy to follow him back to the classroom. As much as he’d been planning on eating quietly in the staffroom, this new idea was just too good to put off until later, and so he decided that they would discuss it while they ate.

As they got to the classroom, the door opened before them, revealing a startled-looking Hinata about to leave.

“Hinata? I thought you were going to lunch.” Naruto asked curiously.

“I, um, I was. B-but I… forgot something. Yeah. I came back to look for it.” She replied, plucking an excuse out of the air lest she have to explain that she passed out from _blushing._ The Hyuuga suppressed a sigh as the boy shrugged and let her pass.

“And did you find it?”

“F-find what? Um, I mean yeah, of course I did. Th-thanks. I’ll see you later.” She all but sprinted down the corridor at that, leaving the two of them staring after her in mild confusion. But the moment was lost soon enough, as they remembered what they were doing and sat down next to one another.

[A while later]

“So, the handle goes like _that…”_ Iruka mused, as he drew said handle on to the design they’d been working on. “And this here can clip together?”

“Yep, that’s right.”

“I have to admit that’s actually a really good idea. Do you have any thoughts on how you’re going to store something like this?”

“Actually, I think I do.” Naruto stood and grabbed the fuuma blade that Mizuki had kindly let him keep, and held it where he wanted the sheath to be. “Do you think that would work? And then I could draw it… like this.” He moved the blade into his hand, twirling it around to be more comfortable, and dropped into a basic stance with it in one fluid movement.

Iruka marvelled at the concept. Naruto had taken the impracticality of the normal sheath designs and eliminated them with the flick of a wrist, pun intended. Not to mention his form was actually really good considering he’d never learned kenjutsu before.

“Where did you learn to handle a sword so well?” He couldn’t help but ask. The boy shrugged.

“I just picked it up, I guess. I’m just really comfortable with a blade like this for some reason.”

“Well that’ll make it easier when we get to kenjutsu then.” He replied incredulously, before turning back to the sheet. “So what about the material?”

Naruto blinked, not seeming to realise that there was a choice for materials.

“There are different metals that give the sword different properties.” He elaborated. “You’ll learn

about it with Gen if you take the apprenticeship, but basically the metal that your sword is made from changes how you use it. Heavier metals are harder to control but stronger, lighter metals vice versa. You can have chakra conductive metals that let you run your chakra through the blade, or magnetic metals that attract any metal objects that are thrown at you.”

“Um, that’s a lot of choice.” He muttered sheepishly. “I think this part should be chakra con- condive- uh..”

“Conductive.”

“Con-duc-tive metal, because maybe I could use _his_ chakra for it, maybe.”

“Why don’t you make this part here conductive instead, so you could have a chakra sword on one side and a regular one on the other? Then you can change the way you use it depending on which side you need.”

“That’s a good idea actually.” Naruto grinned, his eyes lighting up at the possibilities that this design would bring. “So what about the other part?”

The chuunin hummed in thought, before an idea struck him. “What about sealing steel?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a combination of conductive metal and sealing stone. It conducts chakra the same way as the other part would, but instead of using it up it holds on to it. You can inscribe runes into it and the chakra will power them.”

Naruto was still extremely confused. There were way too many complicated words here. “First of all, what’s sealing stone? And what are runes?”

“Sorry. Sometimes I forget that you’re so young – you talk like an adult sometimes, honestly.” Iruka remarked. “Sealing stone is a special kind of rock that lets you put seals on it. When you combine the sealing stone with conductive metal it turns into a kind of switch, and when you channel chakra into it, it activates the seals.”

“Okay, I understand it now. And runes?”

“Well, regular seals like the ones you see on exploding tags and such won’t work on sealing steel, because they’re too complex and the user would have to put their chakra into it in an exact pattern for it to work. So instead they use runes, which are little symbols that are much simpler than the advanced designs. I have a book on them at home, it’ll make more sense if you check that out.”

Naruto was going to say more, but the bell rang, signifying that lunchtime had come to an end. He scrabbled to organise the sheets of paper littered around him, but Iruka took over, collecting them in a fast movement and putting them into his bag.

“In years of teaching you tend to learn how to pick up papers quickly.” He explained when the boy raised an eyebrow.

He began to move back to his desk as the class began to file into the room. Naruto had flitted to his own desk too, putting the fuuma blade he’d still been holding onto the seat beside him. With a little luck no one would notice.

…Of course, luck seemed to be something Naruto was lacking in.

“Sensei!” a voice screeched, its owner pointing at him. “Naruto’s got a knife!”

Iruka shot a deadpan look at the girl. “That’s not a knife, Sakura. It’s part of a fuuma shuriken. And it was given to him by another teacher as part of some extra work he’s doing, so sit down and let him be.”

Sakura looked to her blonde friend Ino, expecting her to back her up. But she threw a quick glance towards Naruto, before shaking her head at the Haruno and sitting down – besides Sasuke of course. Sakura moved over to sit on the other side of him, leaning right into his personal space to look at the Yamanaka.

“What’s with you? You’ve been throwing glances at him all day, and now you’re not backing me up either? What’s going on?” She hissed, oblivious to the annoyed sigh that her crush let out.

The blonde sent her a half-assed glare, before looking down at her desk in thought.

“I saw him speaking to dad on Saturday. He stayed in the spare room for the night because of the storm.” She replied, so quietly that even Sasuke who was sat directly next to her struggled to hear.

“So?”

“He… you know what? Never mind. It’s none of my business.”

“What did he say?”

Ino sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”

“What did he say?”

“You’re not going to stop bothering me until I tell you now, are you?”

“Nope!”

“Okay. Fine. I woke up really early to hear someone scream. I was going to see what the noise was

but dad stopped me and told me to go to bed.”

Sakura was listening intently as she spoke, her brow furrowed. Sasuke might have been listening in too; although with his stoic expression it was hard to tell.

“Dad’s face… I don’t know why, but he looked worried. Really worried. And when he went into the spare room I could hear Naruto crying. He sounded scared. Dad left to get him some sleeping pills and I went to see him. He tried to pass it off as nothing serious but I tried to pry. He snapped at me so I left.”

“So Naruto had a nightmare.” Sakura muttered, subconsciously lowering her voice to match Ino’s.

“Why is that such a big deal?”

“Remember I told you I was studying body language and expressions with dad?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… I could see his emotions from it. When he saw me he put on a brave face but I could see the tension in his jaw, the clenched fists, the way he jumped at tiny sounds, even the way he looked at me showed me he was scared of something.”

“Okay?”

“Sakura… Those are all symptoms linked with PTSD.”

“PTSD? You mean…”

“Yeah. I think he’s been through something bad. Can you understand now why I don’t have the heart to keep acting like that around him?”

OoOoO

Naruto was pleased to say he’d caught one of Iruka’s hand signs after lunch, bringing his total to two. He still figured he’d missed at least one, but it was only his first day so he was allowed to mess up, right?

After class, Iruka caught him by the shoulder and waited for the rest of the class to leave.

“So.” He said, once they were finally alone. “How many signs did you pick up today?”

“Two.”

“Well I showed you three today, as well as one that you wouldn’t recognise just in case you were alert enough to work out the difference between gesturing and signing.”

“How would I have known that?”

“Eye contact is a good place to start. We generally make a habit of establishing eye contact with someone when we need to sign to them. Once they know we’re trying to talk in that manner we no longer need to hold contact, but it always helps.”

“Okay, I’ll try to remember that for next time.”

“Now. When exactly did you see each sign, and what sign was it?”

“Um.. The first was this one, and you showed me that when we were talking about the new schedule.”

“Good. Maybe a little more detail next time but that’ll do.”

“And the other one was this one, and… I think it was when you were talking about the bunshin jutsu?”

“Also correct. Next time try a little bit more detail. Things like the exact time, whether or not I was blatantly signing you, and also I want you to translate it. This time the sign translations were ‘front’, ‘twenty’ and ‘center’. Eventually I’ll be giving you instructions in sign so you’ve got to get better at it!”

Naruto seemed to blanch at the idea of following instructions through hand signs, but shook it off quickly enough when Iruka placed a few coins into his hand.

“Here, treat yourself to some ramen.” He said, confusing the boy.

“But you said-“

“I know what I said, but this time I’ll make an exception. Just make sure you pay for Hinata’s food

too.” He smirked. Naruto recognised his expression and sent a mock glare his way.

“Okay sensei, will do. I’m going to be a while anyway – Once we’re done talking I’m going to head to Niju Buki and let Gen know I’ve made my mind up about that apprenticeship.”

“Oh?”

“You sound like him now ‘ _Ruka!_ ”

OoOoO

Ichiraku ramen was empty around this time of day, as most of the parents were collecting their kids at school, and the shinobi were heading home to their spouses. Of course, Ayame and Teuchi could always count on the chance of one familiar face brightening their doorway at this time, and today was no exception.

“Heya old man!” Naruto called, jogging into the stand. “I’ll take two of the usual please. Boss and Hinata will be here soon.”

With that he vanished into a puff of smoke, leaving an amused Ayame to watch as Teuchi began to prepare the food.

The two of them entered the stand just as they were done, and they had just sat down when a bowl was placed in front of them.

“Heh, I ordered in advance.” Naruto told the Hyuuga, who was clearly shocked at how fast they’d been served. “I hope you like it, I got you my favourite. Itadakimasu!”

Hinata simply nodded, not really trusting herself to speak as a blush worked its way onto her face.

They ate in relative silence for a while, particularly because Naruto was trying to word his next question in his head and Hinata was just too shy to initiate conversation. By the time they’d finished their current bowl (her first, his third), he decided to speak.

“Soo… I was doing some training the other day.” He began. “I couldn’t help but notice someone was watching me.”

He noticed Hinata’s expression change slightly.

“I was working on a jutsu, and, well, while I was concentrating I could sense someone. But when I looked over at them they left.”

“I-I see.” She murmured.

“I was wondering, was it you? I feel like it was. You see, I recognised your chakra when I came into class today.”

Damnit, so he had seen her after all.

“Okay, it was- it was me. I-I went to the training field to get away from- um, to train. When I heard voices I t-took a look and you were there.”

“How much did you see?” Naruto had a slightly concerned expression now. The kind of training he’d been doing was very much a secret, and he didn’t want it getting out to anyone.

“Well I s-saw a lot of clones standing in a circle.” She told him hesitantly. “I was using my byakugan, and I saw you let-letting off some weird red chakra. It s-started flowing in all directions, b-but then it stopped going out of y-your body, and it stayed in there and focused in your hands. Then you started walking t-towards me and pushed it to your eyes, so I ran.”

The boy nodded, before turning to Teuchi and passing him a few coins.

“Paying for both of us. Thanks old man, oneesan!”

Hinata had been about to reach for her own purse when Naruto handed over the money, and froze as she realised what had happened. No one had done that before.

“T-thank you.” She stuttered, trying to put as much gratitude into those two words as she could.

“No problem. So, I have to talk to someone about something, would you like to come with me? I want to talk to you about something, if that’s okay.”

“That’s f-fine, Naruto-kun. Le-lead the way.”

He raised an eyebrow at the honorific, but did indeed lead the way up the high street, walking slow enough that they could chat as they went.

“So… What you saw at the training field, I’d be grateful if you could keep that a secret, please. It’s hard to explain, but if people were to find out what I’m doing when I train there might be a few problems.”

“This- this is about the f-fox, isn’t it?”

Naruto’s steps faltered, and Hinata nearly walked straight into him as he froze in place. He was staring at Hinata with an incredulous look on his face.

“What- how?” He asked quietly. “Actually, hold that thought. Let’s get to the shop first, okay?”

“O-okay.”

They were only a few meters away from the shop anyway, so they walked there in silence. Naruto was in a daze, his mind whirring through all the ways he could think of that Hinata could have worked out his secret.

“Welcome to Niju Buki!” Gen called cheerfully as he heard the bell ring. “How can I- hey Naruto!”

“Hey.” He replied, as the weapons master narrowed his eyes at him.

“What’s going on kid? You’re pale as paper!”

“Uh, it’s nothing.” He tried to shrug off, but Gen gave him a look that said he clearly didn’t believe him. “This is Hinata by the way. She agreed to come with me while I come to talk to you.”

“Hi Hinata, welcome to Niju Buki!” The man greeted, walking over to her. “Hmmm… Small size, defensive stature… I have a set of senbon that would suit you perfectly, ma’am.”

“U-um, I’ve never used s-senbon.” She replied, slightly intimidated by his overpowering friendliness. He was similar to Naruto, actually… although she wasn’t intimidated by Naruto.

“Actually, that’s a good idea.” Naruto interjected. “Do you think we could go into your training room for a bit please? Hinata could try out some senbon – that’s if you want to of course – and I’ve got something I’d like to try too.”

The Hyuuga nodded, actually kind of interested to see how she’d do with senbon. Gen seemed to notice the fuuma blade that had been hanging at Naruto’s hip the whole time, and honed in on it like a hawk.

“Is that a fuuma shuriken?”

“It is. One of the teachers let me have it. I’ll explain later.”

“Okay. So do you want to tell me why you wanted to talk to me, anyway?” he asked, changing the subject. He moved to one of the shelves near him as he spoke, and picked up a pack of senbon before motioning for them to follow.

“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I wanted to tell you that I’m going to take the apprenticeship. I asked Iruka about it and he said it would be a great opportunity.” The boy explained, as the man led them through to the training room. Hinata was awestruck as she took in the sight of the expansive training area, her eyes lighting up as she spotted the painted dummies.

“Th-this place is great!” she exclaimed.

“Yep. And since Naruto here has decided to become my apprentice he’s got free access. Of course, I’m happy to add on a plus one, if you’d like to come and train here some time.” Gen smiled, handing her the senbon. “I’d suggest using these on the logs first, I have a wooden target I can attach to one for you.”

He then turned back to Naruto, who was waiting for him to finish.

“So what are you going to do?” He asked cordially.

The boy decided to show Gen rather than tell him, and walked over to one of the logs himself. He grabbed the fuuma blade from its place tucked into his belt, and placed it in the same position he’d put it in when showing Iruka.

“This would be in a sheath here.” He said simply, before drawing it as he had before. Naruto smirked at the weapon master’s expression, before turning and taking a few strikes at the log. It felt so _exhilarating_ to handle a weapon like this, even if he was just barely hanging on to the tiny amount of handle he had!

“Iruka and I worked through a plan for the new sword. He has the drawings so I’ll show you next time I’m here.” He continued calmly, acting as if nothing had happened.

“Where did you learn to hold a sword like that?” The man asked, thoroughly shocked at the display. “Tenten was telling me you were the most useless kenjutsu user she’d ever seen a couple of days ago, so how on earth did I just witness you do that?”

“I don’t actually know. I picked up the blade, and just… did it?”

“You have some skill right there, kid. Just you wait ‘til I tell Tenten!”

“Heheh, Thanks. Iruka said the same. Um, do you mind if Hinata and I could talk privately while she checks out the senbons please? It’s nothing personal, it’s just I have a really _important_ topic to talk about, if that’s okay.”

Being a weapons master meant that Gen was trained to detect even the smallest movements around him, so he definitely didn’t miss the way Naruto’s right arm twitched, and for a brief second he pointed towards his abdomen. The man nodded understandingly and began to make his way towards the door.

“That’s fine by me. You’re an apprentice now – you have every right to use the training room!” he told him. “When you’re done, I’ll be on the shop floor.”

When he’d closed the door, Naruto went over to Hinata, and helped her open the box of senbon in

her hand.

“So how do you know about _that_ , anyway?” He asked as he did so. The Hyuuga hesitated long

enough to pluck a senbon from the box when he’d got it open, and studied it as she spoke.

“I have t-the byakugan, remember. One of the things I c-can do with it is look through walls, and read- a-and read lips.” She began. “Father tried his b-best to hide his conversations from me but sometimes I would b-be training and catch his conversations.”

“So you saw him talking about my… problem one day?” Naruto asked, earning a growl courtesy of the ‘problem’ remark.

“Sort of.” She replied. “I s-saw him talking about you one time but I d-didn’t see what he said. Then I k-kind of watched him when I was asleep one time and s-saw the whole conversation.”

There was silence for a moment as she looked up and threw the senbon. It landed just an inch to the side of the log. She took another from the box.

“He was t-talking about something happening. But he d-didn’t know what had happened, just that the hokage s-seemed really worried. A-and apparently the ANBU were searching for s-someone too.

A missing person who was a high risk, o-or something like that. He said he wondered if it was y-you since people disliked you as a jin-jinchuuriki. I researched after that and worked it out.”

Naruto had a feeling he knew exactly what that was about, it definitely seemed to fit. On his first conversation with the hokage after his suicide attempt, the old man had told him how he’d alerted the ANBU to the situation as soon as he’d seen that the house was empty. So word must have gotten through to the Hyuuga clan – maybe Hinata’s father had a friend in the ANBU?

He was distracted from his thoughts as Hinata threw another senbon, this one landing on the log but falling short of the target attached to it. She let out a ‘hmph’ of mild annoyance, taking a third senbon and this time switching on her byakugan. She swung her arm in the same throwing movement a couple of times, staring intently at her hand, before nodding to herself and looking

back at the target.

The cocked her arm back once more, threw the senbon and-

“Damn Hinata, a perfect shot in three tries? You’re awesome!”

The girl froze as the blush she’d all but forgotten began to creep up her face once more.

‘ _Naruto just called me awesome.’_

He was speaking to her again, but like before the words were beginning to sound muffled. She couldn’t focus on them, as the last things Hinata had head him say echoed through her head.

‘” _you’re awesome!”’_

She fell to the ground with a heavy ‘thunk’, as Naruto rushed to her side. But she was unsconscious before she’d even hit the ground.

OoOoO

Gen hummed to himself as he fiddled absentmindedly with a kunai, spinning it on his finger by the ring. As boring as it seemed, he loved taking care of the shop. When there were no visitors, he could sit and stare out of the window, watching each person who came by and thinking about what tools and weapons would best suit them. Or he could rearrange the mannequins at the big front window, dressing them up in armours and creating a battle scene to impress the kids that walked past.

They were tiny moments of happiness, but they were enough. As a retired jounin he’d seen more than his fair share of action; it was only fitting that he found so much enjoyment in the small, almost meaningless tasks.

That wasn’t to say he didn’t keep his skills honed as sharp as the blades he sold, of course. Training gave him a reason to spend time with his daughter, and besides that he wasn’t going to kid himself into thinking that his skills wouldn’t one day be called upon once more. When shinobi make a name for themselves, they are never truly able to retire, as everybody will turn to them in their time of need.

The sound of the doorbell brought Gen from his thoughts, and he turned around to see Tenten easing her way around the shelving.

“We need to make some more space around here.” She remarked. “It’s almost impossible to get past the mace rack with those armour stands blocking the way.”

The man just shrugged, before changing the topic to a more interesting conversation.

“So Tenten. Remember the worst kenjutsu user you ever met?”

“Of course I do. He couldn’t even hold a sword properly.”

“Would you believe me if I told you he’s found a sword that works, and he’s actually a natural genius in his new style?”

Tenten seemed to bark out a laugh, indicating that she clearly didn’t believe him. But Gen’s smile remained a serious one, and she eventually realised that he wasn’t joking as she’d believed he was.

“Really?” She asked, receiving a nod from her father. “I don’t believe it. Nu-uh. No way could that kid pick up a sword and suddenly know how to use it, especially not in two days. I need to see this for myself.”

“You know, you call him a kid but he’s barely a year younger than you.” The man remarked, continuing to smile as she rolled her eyes. She was about to speak again when an unknown voice cut over her.

“GEEENNN!”

The call put Gen on high alert, and he sprinted to the training room almost immediately afterwards, his daughter hot on his heels. The door burst open to reveal Naruto crouched over an unconscious Hinata.

“What happened?” He asked, an authoritative tone in his voice. The weapons master ran over to the pair, also crouching down to check her vital signs.

“I don’t know. I was talking to her about how awesome it was that she got the center shot on her third try and then next thing I knew she was like this.” Naruto fretted. Tenten stared at him with a blank expression as her father checked the girl over, unnerving him slightly.

“Well Naruto, looks like she’s fine to me.” Gen eventually told him, straightening up with the girl in his arms. He moved over to the only wall that wasn’t occupied by training tools and gently placed her down in a seated position, removing his coat and balling it up as a makeshift cushion. “She just fainted. Give it a couple of minutes and she’ll be okay, I’ll say.”

The boy nodded, relieved that it wasn’t anything serious. He wanted to go and sit next to her, but the continuous blank stare from Tenten was starting to get outright creepy by this point, he chose to address her to see what the problem was.

“Fight me. I want to see this new sword of yours.”

OoOoO

** Memoirs of the nine-tailed fox chapter 2 **

** Promises **

A promise holds so much more gravity for a bijuu than it does for a human.

Some of you humans hold your word in the highest regard; refusing to rest until you have stood true to the promise you made to an individual. But if you do break a promise, it is entirely possible to shake it off and continue living your life, regardless of the moral implications.

For us, failure is not an option.

This is a trait shared with some summoning clans, such as the dogs, where loyalty is held above anything else in importance.

So human, should you ever find yourself fortunate enough to receive a direct promise from a bijuu, then you can be sure that they will not break their word – because any bijuu or summon foolish enough to attempt to go back on their promise will be subjected to something they do not ever otherwise feel.

Pain.

Flashes of white-hot agony begin to course through a bijuu’s body when they even _think_ about breaking a promise. It is a worse feeling than any of us know, and should we still refuse to obey…

Well, ask a summoner about the legend of Ketsinu Akami. Chances are they’ll have heard of it at least vaguely.

As tailed beasts we have the sense to obey the terms of a promise we make, regardless of whether we want to or not. This in particular comes into play when a hurried promise is made, and the full implications of said promise are not fully visible until later. When we bijuu give our word, there is no going back, no matter what scenarios occur following it. So for example, if we were to promise our jinchuuriki that we would not harm them, we would have to specify how long that promise is to last, otherwise we are bound by our word not to knowingly allow harm to come to the jinchuuriki until they die of other causes.

Bijuu do not make promises easily. If you hear one make you a promise, regardless of what it is about, then you must respect that they are serious, and respect that they are willing to put their own health on the line to ensure that they do not fail.

No one knows why these promises hold so much weight to them – our father died before they were discovered. But we know not to mess with the celestial powers that have their grip on us, and as such, we simply obey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the anime, it seems like Mizuki prefers the solid fuuma shuriken, the ones that can’t fold up or anything. But in this story he also uses the folding ones, which he keeps in a storage scroll and unseals as he needs them.
> 
> Yes, I’m being particularly mysterious about the blade, just as I did with Naruto’s new clothing. You’ll see the full set in a few chapters’ time, when I write a full description from someone else’s POV. For a good reference to the blade, look at the shuriken used in the fight between team 7 and Momochi Zabuza, with the shadow shuriken or whatever it was.
> 
> Ketsinu Akami is a combination of translations for Aka (Red), Okami (Wolf), Inu (dog) and Ketsueki (blood) to create a rough translation to ‘Blood Red Wolfdog’


	12. Growth 7 - Intimidation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto starts a fight and meets a strange man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Line spacing is messed up in this one too. Sorry about that. I did actually try to improve on the errors but it just made it worse. It would take waaay too long to edit the whole 2 chapters to fix the spacing so it will stay as it is.

** Growth 7 - Intimidation **

“Fight me. I want to see this new sword of yours.” She told him simply, all but dragging him over to the sparring pad on the opposite side of the room and throwing some PPE at him.

“It’s not a sword right now, it’s just an idea.” He replied, but he accepted the padded helmet and chestplate anyway.

Naruto was kind of nervous to fight directly with someone – he'd never really fought with anyone outside of the academy, and sparring conditions there were strictly monitored. Well, either that or they were pulled apart by teachers because they were fighting in the hallways.

Besides that, even if he wasn’t nervous for such a reason, there was the fact that he would be wielding a very sharp blade in this fight. Or the fact that he was against Tenten, who had shown him exactly what she could do with a sword when she’d all but dissected a log last time he was there. 

Gen chuckled as he watched a bead of sweat form on Naruto’s brow. It was clear that he was anxious – and he had every right to be. Tenten was a bukijutsu master in the making, and the retired jounin had full confidence that his daughter would surpass him before she even

made chuunin. 

“So.” He declared, with every intention of staying to watch this. “No holds barred?” 

Tenten nodded, but Naruto looked at him with a blank expression on his face. 

“No limits.” The girl muttered, to which she received a hum of agreement. 

“Does that mean jutsu too?” He asked. 

Father and daughter cast a glance towards one another, before the former gave an answer. 

“You can use one jutsu.” Gen replied, knowing full well which one the boy would be using. Secretly he was just interested to see him mess around with his clones some more. “Which will you pick?” 

The boy didn’t respond directly, instead proving his theory by creating three clones, all of which held their makeshift swords at the ready. He himself held back, staying out of the sparring area and

allowing his clones to fight this battle for him. 

“I know how skilled she is.” He told Gen, after he sent him an inquisitive look. “She can go… no-holds-barred… like this, because a lethal strike won’t kill me. I already know that I won’t be able to hit Tenten, so I figured this way she would get a good fight and I would get the chance to stand back and watch myself fight. I want to see if I can spot any ways to improve.” 

The man nodded, seemingly impressed by his decision. The girl seemed happy with it too, as she dropped the bokken she’d grabbed and replaced it with a sword that she pulled from a sealing scroll; a tanto if he remembered correctly. She chose not to use ninjutsu. 

As the four of them made the seal of confrontation, Gen held a hand in the air between them. They then settled into a battle stance, signifying they were ready, and the man lifted his hand into the air with a shout of “Begin!” 

Tenten allowed one of the clones to make the first move, beginning with a low horizontal swipe which was easily intercepted by a kunai that had materialised in her left hand. She followed it with a vicious upwards swipe, her tanto missing his nose by a hair’s breadth as one of the other clones moved forwards to block. 

From the side-lines, Gen watched the exchange with an appraising eye. He recognised Tenten’s strategy, in that she’d chosen to hang back and get a good idea of the boy’s fighting style. But he also understood Naruto’s strategy, as it seemed he’d created a vanguard to lead the attacks and left the other two clones to act as supports, stepping in when an opening was created or when the vanguard was in danger. 

‘ _How will you tackle this, Tenten?’_ He mused to himself. 

When the support clone had blocked, Tenten had reacted by immediately throwing her Kunai. But the second support had blocked that, and it was sent spinning away from them. She growled in frustration as she swung the tanto back, but as the clone braced for a downwards vertical slash, she switched tactics. 

The vanguard raised his sword so that it was covering his chest, ready to catch her sword and

overbalance her. Then suddenly he was dispelled by a swift smash to the face; one which had the original’s eyes watering as the memories returned to him. Tenten had, instead of swinging down, jabbed her tanto forwards in a move that would have crushed a person’s nose with the end of the hilt. 

Naruto sent a questioning look towards Gen, which he accurately interpreted and responded with a slight shake of the head. 

_‘Don’t add any more to the fight. Let it continue as it is.’_

So the boy created a new clone, but instead of having it head into the fight, he immediately dispelled it. The clones on the ‘battlefield’ reacted to the dispulsion, rearranging themselves in a new strategy. Throughout the following fight, Naruto continued to create clones that dispelled themselves, with the two support clones within the fight responding to them.

Gen watched the scene with interest, thinking about the way Naruto was using his clones.

Since the clones were essentially independent to the original, any memories or thoughts that he or they would have would not be shared. But it stood to reason that when one clone was dispelled, all of the other clones would get the feedback as well as Naruto himself, creating the ultimate information network. Thus the boy’s consistent smokescreens were actually his way of sending commands to his fighters, or picking out weaknesses. It was an extremely useful technique to play with, that was for sure.

The two of them traded attacks for a while, neither really landing a solid hit. Naruto had managed to get in a few slashes that glanced across Tenten’s padded chestplate, and the girl had managed to momentarily disarm one of the clones while he was taking a jab at her, but he’d regained the blade quickly enough as the second clone defended against her attacks.

Gen could see that his daughter was beginning to lose her patience. It was clear as day; her attacks were becoming more and more aggressive, and any kind of tactic she had been using before dissolved into little more than dodges and slashes. He called to Tenten, telling her to keep her cool, and received a glare from the corner of her eyes in response. But her lips twitched into a miniscule smirk as she glared, signifying that she clearly knew what she was doing.

Eventually the two clones crossed blades, catching her own sword between them and effectively trapping it. Tenten had no choice but to let the tanto go, jumping up just in time to avoid the sweep that one of the clones had aimed at her legs. But as she did, the other clone sent a kunai sailing towards her, perfectly aimed so that she was unable to dodge it in the position she was currently in. She gritted her teeth, annoyed that she would have to use her concealed kunai so soon, before twisting her wrist and triggering a dispenser that placed a kunai into her left hand.

She used the kunai to deflect the one that was thrown at her, catching it in her right hand and settling into a new stance. The tanto lay on the ground now, hilt pointed towards her. But the two clones were much closer to it than she was; and if she scrambled desperately for the sword then she had no doubt that they would get to it first.

Gen watched as Tenten pulled a scroll out of her pocket, unravelling it and beginning to channel chakra. A number of kunai and shuriken appeared before her, all of which she plucked from the air and launched at the two clones. When she ran out of tools, she unsealed another section of her scroll, and continued. The clones did their best to dodge and weave out of the range of the projectiles, but there were so many of them that they were eventually overpowered, and one of the clones sacrificed itself to save the other one from also being dispelled.

Sensing her chance the girl lunged forwards, kicking her sword in such a way that it flew into the air, positioned perfectly for her to snatch the handle with her left hand and take a few slashes at the final clone.

He backpedalled, just keeping out of the range of the sword; but in his haste he failed to notice what Gen and the real Naruto had seen – Tenten’s right hand, which was clenched in a fist and holding a bundle of wires.

Naruto’s eyes widened as he tried to create a clone and relay his discovery. But he didn’t have the chance as the girl took a final horizontal slash, extending her right arm as she did so and using the momentum of her attack to fall into a 360-degree spin. The bundle of wires in her hand pulled the many shuriken that she’d earlier thrown back up into the air, twirling around until the wires hit the clone’s body. The move quickly wrapped the clone in wire, guiding the shuriken until they gouged deep cuts in their target, successfully dispelling it.

“Win goes to Tenten.” Gen declared, then motioned to Naruto. The boy nodded and stepped into the training area, extending his hand to his fighting partner. Tenten copied the movement, joining her hand to his in a seal of reconciliation.

“Th-that was great Naruto-kun” A new voice spoke up. The boy whirled around upon hearing it, and jogged over to Hinata; crouching down and looking intently at her.

“Ah Hinata, you’re awake!” He exclaimed. “You just collapsed, I was so worried!”

“Don’t worry.” She replied. “I-it happens sometimes. I’ll be okay.”

Naruto frowned at her, but didn’t push the issue further. Hinata resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze, instead looking over his shoulder and catching sight of Gen and Tenten sharing a smirk. She was determined not to embarrass herself by collapsing in front of him again, no way – There was already a blush forming on her cheeks just from the close proximity.

Naruto seemed to notice that she was feeling embarrassed, and decided to sit beside her instead.

“So, how long were you awake anyway?” He asked as they watched the other two engage in a mock-battle, throwing the equipment they’d just been picking up at each other.

“Long enough t-to watch your clone’s nose go c-crunch” Hinata replied. The way he touched a hand to his nose with a minor grimace was hilarious, and she couldn’t help the grin that lit up her features. In the Hyuuga compound, she was trained not to show any emotion, not even a tiny smile. But she wasn’t in the Hyuuga compound right now, and it wasn’t like these people would go and tell her father what a disobedient girl she’d been, either.

“Say, Hinata…” Naruto asked in a low voice after a few moments of silence. “Most people who know about my secret turn against me. They think I’m going to lose it and attack everyone. But you… why haven’t you turned against me?”

Hearing so much emotion in the boy’s voice sent a pang of sorrow through Hinata’s body. She’d suspected something like this for a while, but never really brought herself to believe it until now. The glares that civilians sent towards him, the blatant hostility from some members of her clan at the mere mention of his name, the fact that everyone seemed to be so much more hostile around October… it all made sense, really. So many people hated Naruto because of the Kyuubi.

“That’s easy.” She began, pausing to make sure she was using the right words. “You proved who you really are long before I knew about that.”

“I did?”

“Of course. Do you remember when you found me in that forest, and those bullies were threatening me? You stepped forwards and took that beating even though you didn’t have to. And you never expected anything in return. If you were actually the… you know… then you wouldn’t be even half as kind as you are. Why are you s-staring at me?”

Naruto was indeed staring at her, but he had a gentle smile on his face that she just couldn’t read.

“I’m staring because that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever really said about me. That, and the fact that you only stuttered once through the whole thing.” He replied.

“I-I did!?”

They shared a laugh for a moment, partially at their conversation but mainly at the antics of Tenten and Gen, who’d somehow managed to cover each other in wire. They were now hopping around the room with their arms bound to their sides, trying unsuccessfully to kick kunai at each other. The fact that they were also both nearly doubling over in laughter at the same time made it all the more funny too.

“Um, could I use t-the restroom please?” Hinata spoke up eventually, catching their attention. Gen nodded, but couldn’t do much more than that while he was wrapped up.

“Sure, if Naruto could just lend us a few pairs of hands, Tenten can show you where to go.” He answered, prompting the boy to nod and create seven clones. Five of them began to pick up the tools that were strewn around, leaving a clone each to tend to the father and daughter.

“So.” Tenten’s clone said as he reached her. “I enjoyed that fight.”

She shrugged at him – or at least tried to, but the wires made it pretty hard to do so.

“Eh, it wasn’t my worst fight.” She replied, feigning nonchalance. “Let’s fight again when you’re actually using a sword though.”

Thanks to it being a specific brand of ninja wire that was resistant to cutting, the clones had to find each individual strand and unwrap it from them. Eventually the rest fell away, but by the time they’d finally been freed, all of the tools had been cleared up and dumped in a pile in front of Tenten. She thanked the clones, sealing them away and heading over to Hinata and the original Naruto, the latter of whom jumped up and offered a hand to the Hyuuga.

She accepted it – blushing furiously of course – and clambered to her feet. The rushing blood was making her a little faint again, so she took a deep breath for a moment and focused on putting one foot in front of the other, following the older girl out of the room.

Gen and Naruto stood in silence for a moment, watching them go.

“She definitely enjoyed that fight.” The man said eventually. “It’s very rare for her to get to fight someone who can even pick up a sword, let alone hold their own against her. Even just the fact that she’s interested in a rematch says a lot, too. My daughter wouldn’t ask for a rematch if she didn’t think you were good.”

“So she doesn’t fight many kenjutsu users?” Naruto asked in response.

“It’s a dying art, I’m afraid. Prospective shinobi often turn to the flashier fighting styles like ninjutsu, or choose to follow their family’s traditions. By the time they’re old enough to understand the benefits of wielding tools, they’ve already developed a fighting style to work with their comrades, and consider it to be far too much effort to take up a whole new fighting branch. Smithing is much the same, too. That’s why we smiths take on apprenticeships.”

“I guess I can understand. But what about ANBU? Every ANBU I see has a sword.”

“That’s different though, in most cases. One of the entry requirements for the ANBU is the ability to wield a sword. It’s one of the only organisations where the requirements haven’t changed for years, so they’re still functioning on the same rules that were in place back when everyone knew the ways of the blade.” Gen continued, having to stop every now and then to simplify his words. “Most people just learn the bare minimum of kenjutsu to get through the exams and retain their sword for visual purposes. And those who do learn often won’t have the time or energy to train well enough anyway. I’m glad ‘Ruka’s taking the time to train you properly with kenjutsu. You’re gonna go far with that talent, kid. Especially when you’re going to forge your own blade.”

Naruto’s clones had dispelled long ago, but one had remained to pick up the senbons that had also been strewn across the floor when Hinata had first collapsed. The clone now brought them to Naruto, then dispelled.

“I want to buy these, please.” The boy told Gen, holding up the now battered-looking box. “She seemed to be enjoying using them so I’m going to buy them for her.”

The man looked at them thoughtfully for a moment.

“I have some conductive senbon that would work with her fighting style, you know. Hyuugas are well known for their aptitude for chakra control, after all.” He said finally. “They’re slightly more expensive, but if you’d like to get those instead I’ll throw in this box for free.”

Naruto laughed and pulled out a frog shaped wallet, rooting through it for the equivalent price while following Gen onto the shop floor.

“You know, if you keep giving me free stuff I’ll end up putting you out of business!” he exclaimed, then tucked the two boxes into his pocket.

“Not really.” Was the man’s reply. “Because we don’t have many blacksmiths nowadays, the council pay us to train people. So for every apprentice we train, we get a grant – a bundle of money – that pays for the wages and resources we need for them.”

The boy was intrigued by this prospect, and was going to question him further. But he didn’t have a chance.

“Oh – before I forget, I have something I need you to sign.” Gen interjected before he could ask. “Some waiver forms. Just sign them and get ‘Ruka to sign them, and then bring them over on Saturday at 6am. They’re just legal documents saying if you get injured I can’t be blamed.”

“Oh, okay. That’s early.”

“Of course it is. We have to open up the shop at seven so that hour is to make sure everything is ready. Plus stock deliveries are sorted out at that time, so we need to make sure everything’s put onto the shelves in time. Saturday is stock day so it comes down to you to help us out.”

Naruto’s head was beginning to spin at the amount of information he was taking in. But he understood the gist of it, and that’s really all he needed. Gen finally procured the document from a pile of paperwork behind the checkout, checking that it was the right one before handing it to him. Naruto grabbed it, gave it a once-over of his own and stuffed it into one of his many pockets.

_‘could you remind me to get that signed please?’_ He asked his tenant.

**_‘What, do I look like your servant?’_** The Kyuubi responded, as a snort crossed the boy’s mind. **_‘Don’t answer that.’_**

****

Tenten returned with Hinata in tow not long after; the latter looking much better now.

“Well, we’d better go.” Naruto told Gen, who nodded. “It’s been great. I’ll see you on Saturday, yeah?”

“Of course. Don’t be late!” He replied. As the two of them made their way to the exit, Naruto bumped into a shelf lined with maces, sending it toppling down towards them. Gen, quick as a flash, threw a kunai at it and somehow stopped its descent. They stared at the scene for a moment, then left before they could topple anything else.

Naruto and Hinata walked down the high street in relative silence, both of them simply taking in their surroundings. The issues that Naruto had brought up to the Hyuuga were becoming more and more visible to her as she walked, taking note of the glares being directed his way.

“You seemed to enjoy practicing with those senbon.” Naruto remarked as they turned off the high street and into a less busy road.

“Th-they were great.” She replied. “I was very comfortable wi-with them.”

The boy nodded happily. “I’m glad to hear that.”

They were approaching the next fork in the road, where they would be parting ways to go home. When they got there, Naruto stopped and looked at her for a moment, reaching into his pocket.

“I got you a gift.” He said simply, before showing her the two boxes of senbon. “These are the ones you used earlier, and these ones are conductive. Gen told me that Hyuugas are good with chakra control, so I thought you’d like them.”

She was extremely touched by the gesture, and found the blood rushing to her cheeks yet again. But she promised herself that she wouldn’t collapse again, so took a deep breath and forced herself to focus.

“Th-thank you, Naruto-kun. I p-promise you I’ll put these to good use. And when I g-get better at using them, let’s f-fight, maybe?” She asked, stuttering a little more than usual as her concentration was on staying upright rather than speaking.

Naruto grinned. “That sounds great Hinata! I’m going to be making a new sword too, so we could practice together, ya know!”

“That s-sounds fun.” She replied happily, before turning to walk down the road that lead to the Hyuuga compound. “I’ll see you again some time N-Naruto-kun.” 

OoOoO

Iruka gasped, the action causing some kind of dust to flood in and block his airway. Opening his eyes proved to be a fruitless endeavour too, as the same dust pressed down upon him, stinging as they stuck to his eyeballs. There was pressure all around him, its weight heavy enough that it felt as though his ribs were cracking.

He wasn’t sure how he knew that he was buried in sand. The coarse powder covered him, blocking all of his senses in a suffocating blanket of fear.

The chuunin’s attempts to move were thwarted by the sand pressing upon him, which suggested he was at least several meters underneath. Panic was beginning to envelop him as his oxygen ran low; causing his movements to speed up before gradually slowing. His body was shutting down, his lungs burned with need as his jumbled thoughts began to quieten, until only one thought remained.

OoOoO

Naruto had been quietly rifling through a book when a shout startled him, causing him to accidentally throw himself from his chair. He got up slowly, cursing and rubbing his head, before looking over at the source of the noise.

When he’d returned from his not-date with Hinata, Naruto had unlocked the door to find Iruka fast asleep on the sofa, having nodded off while reading a newspaper. He’d placed a blanket over the chuunin’s comatose form before seating himself at the dining table and reaching for the book that had been left there – it was a book about sealing materials, so Naruto had figured that it was the one that Iruka had told him about when they’d been discussing runes.

He’d just been locating the chapter on runes when Iruka had awoken from what was clearly a bad dream, yelling something indiscernible before he’d realised where he was.

“Uh, what happened?” He asked the boy, feeling slightly confused from the sudden awakening.

Naruto for his part looked at the former ANBU with a raised eyebrow.

“I came in and you were asleep, so I threw a blanket over you and started looking at this book. Then you woke up and started shouting.” He answered concisely. “Can I ask what you were dreaming about?”

Iruka was going to answer, but a vacant expression flitted across his face as he realised something.

“I… don’t remember.” He replied, looking about as confused as Naruto felt. “It was… a crazy dream. I remember thinking that I’ve never seen this before, but that’s all.”

“And you can’t even remember what you were yelling?”

“Nope.”

He placed his head into his hands tiredly, brown hair falling over his face as it lacked its usual hair tie. He remained in this position for a few minutes until his brain caught up to the events that had just occurred.

“So anyway, how did your date go?”

OoOoO

[A while later]

“So after I gave her the senbon we parted ways and I came straight back here.” Naruto finished, concluding his lengthy monologue with a flourish. Iruka for the most part had simply listened to his story, only really interjecting to ask questions about his fight with Tenten.

The boy rustled around in one of his pockets, pulling out the permission form that Gen had given him. He grabbed a pen from the desk situated in the corner of the room, filling out the parts he understood then passing it to his sensei-come-guardian.

“Well Naruto, it says here you’ll be paid five thousand ryo per month for this, so that’s going to put you at… fifteen thousand per month?” He asked the boy, who grinned at the prospect.

“Yeah, that’s tons of money!” He exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air.

Iruka didn’t have the heart to tell him that he earned twice that much in a week for teaching.

“Anyway…” Naruto continued, watching the chuunin sign the papers. “I figured that book is the one you told me about. The one about the runes?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s on chapter three if you want to take a look. It’s actually quite an interesting book actually, so you’re welcome to borrow it and read it all.”

The boy pouted. As interesting as that book might be, he really wasn’t the sort to sit around and _read!_

“Meh.” He replied. “Reading is so boring though. I guess I’ll read the runes part myself and make a clone do the rest.”

**_‘Speaking of which, I’d like to do some more reading myself kid.’_** The Kyuubi chimed in, clearly having listened in to the conversation. Naruto nodded, more to himself than anything since the bijuu wouldn’t have seen it, and went to create a clone. He changed his mind though, and instead spoke up to Iruka who was just finishing with a signature.

“Eh, Iruka, can I leave a clone to do some writing at your desk please?” He asked, causing the chuunin to raise an eyebrow.

“You find reading boring but you want to leave a clone to write?” Iruka responded.

“Nope, it’s for mister nine. He tells my clone what to write. He wants to publish a book apparently.”

**_‘Damnit, stop with that infernal nickname!’_ **

****

_‘Then what do you expect me to call you?’_

**_‘…Tch.”_ **

****

“I didn’t think the Kyuubi would be the sort to write.” The sensei remarked. “Sure, go ahead. But in return, I’d like to read that book when it’s done. I might be able to put you up with a publisher too, if your book is interesting enough.”

“Trust me, it’s going to be interesting. And he said that’s fine.”

OoOoO

For a long while, near-silence filled the sitting room of Iruka’s house, permeated only by the scratching of a pen from the clone at the corner desk, and the occasional turning of a page as Naruto read the sealing book, and Iruka read his newspaper.

The boy was engrossed in the information the book was giving him, and after taking a quick look at the first chapter had found himself reading through the whole thing. He’d only meant to glance at the first sentence, but before he knew it he had read the first two chapters, and was now reading the one he’d been intending to read in the first place.

_ Chapter 3: Runes _

_There are many seals that have been created over the years that are impossible to recreate without the sufficient sealing knowledge. This means that in many cases, sealing techniques may be lost thanks to the shortage of viable sealing masters to copy them. A solution to this problem was recently created by Jiraiya, who is a grade nine seal master and one of the three Sannin._

_The solution was borne from the sage’s experimentation with ways to make sealing a faster process, which would be able to change the tides in a battle scenario. He eventually created a tool reminiscent of a wax letter-stamp, which was able to create a seal when it was ‘activated’ by the application of chakra. The seal would not involve the overly complicated arrays that it usually requires, instead compressing everything into a single small symbol, which would appear when the stamp was activated and pressed onto a viable sealing material, such as sealing stone or chakra tag paper._

_The runes themselves didn’t require a specific pattern of chakra to be applied to them like many seals, and as such they were widely valued as tools that allowed non-seal masters to use complicated seals within their work._

_Jiraiya created many of these later named “rune stamps”, selling them to blacksmiths and other organisations within Konoha. Eventually he gave the designs to Uzushiogakure, who cont`inued to manufacture these stamps and sell them to Konoha residents until their untimely demise two decades ago._

_It is believed that the sage gave away his design after attempts to condense more advanced seals into runes proved fruitless. There are only a limited number of rune stamps available for use nowadays, and they are all for seals that could be written onto paper as small as a chakra tag. Jiraiya was unable to create runes for larger seals, and when linking the runes together didn’t provide any advancements, he chose to leave the project for others to look into and move on._

_The recipe for rune stamps was since lost with Uzu, and now the only user who knows how to create them is Jiraiya himself, whose location is unknown._

Without even pausing to consider the information he’d just ingested, the blond turned the next page, and read on.

At some point Iruka had finished reading his newspaper, filled out both of the crosswords and headed into the kitchen to potter around – probably cooking something. It wasn’t until the clone that had been writing in the corner leaned back and stretched that his concentration was broken; particularly as said clone leaned back too far and toppled the chair it was sat in, promptly dispelling itself.

The influx of memories had disrupted the boy’s thoughts, so he created a clone to replace the one that had fallen and leaned back himself – naturally making sure not to meet the same fate as the clone had a moment previously.

Three loud knocks sounded at the door, catching Naruto’s attention. Iruka stuck his head through the doorway of the kitchen and told him to let the visitor in. The chuunin had recognised the chakra signature immediately, and he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t slightly imitated by the man behind the door.

Naruto opened the door, peering cautiously out at first because he didn’t recognise who was behind it. A very tall man stood before him, dressed in a charcoal grey jacket and pants, and wearing a long black trench coat over the top. He was very grizzly-looking, wearing a bandana over his head bearing the Konoha leaf, but what caught Naruto’s attention the most was the two scars running diagonally down the man’s face, parallel to one another.

His body had frozen momentarily as he took in the sight, the intimidating aura of the man washing over him.

“Naruto Uzumaki?” The man asked, looking down on him. “I am Ibiki Morino. My second-in-command Inoichi Yamanaka brought you to my attention after you told him of a specific jutsu. May I come in for a while?”

His voice, while deep and gravelly and formal as Naruto had expected it to be, was surprisingly friendly; and though the man showed no hint of a smile in his expression, the boy felt relatively sure that he had no ill intentions. So he opened the door, allowing this Ibiki man through to the sitting room.

Iruka popped his head through the doorway again when they entered, greeting the man respectfully as “Morino-dono”.

Ibiki simply nodded in response and sat down. Naruto sat in an armchair that put him almost opposite the man, who regarded him intensely with a guarded expression. He took several moments to speak; drawing out the silence to make the boy uncomfortable in an effort to gather information from his body language.

“Yamanaka-san told me about the basics of your jutsu.” He said finally, as Naruto all but sighed in relief. “But without specific details I cannot determine whether or not it can be implemented into my work. Thus I would like you to make use of this technique and direct it at me so that I can better understand how it may be used.”

He didn’t fail to notice the way Naruto’s eyes flickered down as he said this. Nor did he miss the hesitation in the boy’s voice.

“I… I don’t like to use that jutsu on people who don’t deserve it.” Was the nervous response.

Naruto didn’t think it was possible for the man’s expression to harden any further than it already was, but nonetheless it did, forming what seemed like an emotionless frown. Was that even possible?

“An attitude like that may get you killed, boy.” Ibiki replied. He could understand why he would hesitate in this way, given the effect that the jutsu was rumoured to have, but regardless it was a dangerous mindset to have.

“I know, but I just mean… I don’t want to hurt you.”

The ghost of a grim smile flashed across the scarred man’s face, before fading back into his emotionless ‘frown’. He raised a hand, making note of the boy’s miniscule flinching as he did so, and removed his bandanna.

Naruto’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping as he took in the sight before him. Ibiki’s scalp was completely bald, lined with discoloured, puckered scar tissue and deep holes that must have been bored into his skull. The boy stared at it for a full three seconds before he caught himself, closing his mouth and furrowing his brow as his mind tried to imagine the amount of pain that must have caused.

Eventually Ibiki returned the bandanna to his head, breaking Naruto’s line of sight and allowing him to recollect his thoughts.

“I was once ambushed during a mission. My captors did this to me, and so much more. But still I refused to give away the information they wanted. Do you really believe that a jutsu like that could hurt me to that extent, when the strength of my will allowed me to sit through such pain?”

Of course not. Akuma Toei would be a drop in the ocean compared to something like that, the blond mused.

“Okay.” He finally answered, once his throat had stopped constricting. “But not here. I don’t want to affect the neighbours.”

The scarred jounin nodded.

“You heard that didn’t you, Umino-san? I’ll make sure we get back for dinner.”

Naruto couldn’t be certain, but it sounded like Ibiki had just invited himself to stay for dinner. He had to smile at the confidence of the man, that was for sure.

OoOoO

“Okay, I’d say here will do.” Naruto said, before turning to the man beside him. “Are you sure you want me to do this?”

Ibiki rolled his eyes, making sure his face was out of the boy’s view as he did.

“Would it help if I did this?” He asked, placing his hands into a very familiar cross shape and bringing a shadow clone into existence.

Once he got over the momentary shock of seeing someone else use that jutsu, Naruto nodded and put a few meters of distance between the two of them, closing his eyes and settling into a natural stance.

“Okay, I’m going to start.” He said clearly.

_Breathe in. One, two, three._

As the chakra flooded his system, the familiar sense of sheer power began to take its hold. It seemed much more comfortable this time around though; as though his body was getting used to the feeling of this chakra.

Gradually the shaking of his palms began to still.

_Breathe in. One, two, three._

He brought his now-still hands up, placing them into a ram seal. The chakra within him flared, then calmed as it flowed through his coils in harmony with his normal chakra.

_Breathe in. One, two, three._

The heat of the Kyuubi’s chakra settled within his hands once more, the burn feeling much less prominent than normal.

_Breathe in. One, two…_

OoOoO

“Okay, I’m going to start.” Naruto explained. Almost immediately after he said this, Ibiki began to feel the faint trace of demonic chakra begin to saturate into the air. It did little more than raise the hairs on the back of his neck at this point, but he could feel it nonetheless.

The boy began to breathe in and out, each breath seeming to change the way the Kyuubi’s chakra filled the air. When he placed his hands into the ram seal, the chakra vanished almost immediately.

_‘He’s going to need to work on how long it takes to perform this jutsu.’_ Ibiki thought to himself as he observed this preparation. _‘right now, in a battle, it would be useless.’_

As Naruto opened his eyes once more, the man pointed to his left, directing Naruto towards the clone lest he accidentally attack him instead.

He didn’t need to feel the jutsu to see the effect it was having on his clone. Even despite the careful watch he kept on his expression, Ibiki could see that the clone was having a difficult time keeping a straight face. The near-unnoticeable twitches of muscles in its face were a huge giveaway for this, even if they were more or less completely hidden to the untrained eye.

He could see, too, the way the air rippled from the heat of the chakra as it passed.

Suddenly the clone dispelled, breaking Naruto’s concentration and stopping the jutsu. The memory of the Kyuubi’s pressure began to seep into Ibiki’s brain, and he couldn’t help but inwardly cringe at the sheer pressure, especially since all he was seeing was a memory. No wonder the clone had dispelled.

He could think of a thousand different uses for that jutsu, and all of them would prove extremely useful for his occupation. Yes, the boy was certainly suited to the T&I division, it would seem.

Checking his watch, Ibiki realised that almost an hour had passed since he’d first knocked on Iruka’s door. Huh, that time had passed quickly.

“Come. I’ve seen all I need to see.” He told Naruto, beginning to walk back towards Iruka’s house. He slowed down his movement just enough for the boy to catch up, and retained that pace for the remainder of their short journey.

Naruto asked a single time about what Ibiki had thought about his jutsu, only to receive a simple “wait and see” from the otherwise silent jounin. Gee, this guy was really beginning to give him the creeps.

OoOoO

When they had returned, Iruka was just ladling some tonjiru into three bowls. They’d all sat at the table to eat, The two adults making idle conversation about something Naruto didn’t know or care about, gesturing grandly to one another as they spoke.

Wait… gesturing…

The boy watched with his eyes narrowed as he spotted a couple of the communication signs that Iruka had been teaching him. So they were conversing both out loud _and_ in sign at the same time? That seemed pretty impressive.

But hey, until he learned CS himself, there was really no way for him to work out what they were saying, so he had little choice but to settle with eating his soup in silence.

“Care for a drink before you go, Morino-dono?” Iruka asked once their bowls had been washed and put away. Again with the respectfulness!

“Thank you, but I must be getting off. I promised the hokage I’d _talk_ to one of the new prisoners.” Ibiki replied, putting emphasis on the word ‘talk’. It seemed pretty clear that it wouldn’t be Ibiki doing the talking there.

The chuunin nodded, standing up and shaking the tall man’s hand. They moved towards the front door, but Ibiki stopped just short of it and turned around to look at Naruto.

“I’ll be collecting you from the academy on Tuesday afternoon for your first session.” He said. Before the boy could even respond, he turned around, opening the door and stepping through in one fluid movement.

“Well Naruto” Iruka remarked jovially. “You’re one of the rare few people to actually impress the man known as The Torturer. Good job!”

** Memoirs of the nine-tailed fox chapter 3 **

** Tails **

You humans have a habit of hearing a theory and latching on to it, believing it as adamantly as if somebody had told you the truth. But the reality is no amount of belief will make that theory true, and oftentimes you will die holding on to a falsity, a rumour.  


The delusion that bijuu are stronger because of the number of tails they possess is one such untruth.   


Contrary to popular belief, as bijuu we were all created equally. We were each gifted a specific ability by our father; one which is entirely unique to ourselves and cannot be stolen or copied. I myself have been gifted with a strong life force, which promotes vitality, stamina and improved healing within a jinchuuriki.   


You may ask, why do we each have a different number of tails?  


The answer is a simple one, and yet it is one that no one has thought to consider. Our tails do not give us power, but intelligence. It is easy to mistake two people of equal power as being unbalanced primarily because one is more intelligent than the other. An intelligent user is able to put their power to much better use than the other, and as such a fight will often tip the balance in their favour as a result.   


That is not to say that the person with less intelligence can not win. Intelligence can lead to arrogance, to ignorance. It is a fault I am not afraid to admit that I have fallen prey to in my past. But I am the Kyuubi, and something so trivial as a mistake isn’t going to hold me down.  


Not in any human sense of the word.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tonjiru - miso soup with pork.


	13. Timeskip 1: Ibiki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto learns to interrogate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out, timeskips are going to begin. While it won’t be a full-on four-year timeskip, there is going to be quite a lot of jumping around now. My original plan was to have each chapter detailing a six-month to one-year time period in brief, but now I have come to realise that it’s going to be better to have each chapter detailing a specific thing, as it will work better that way.   
> I am currently planning chapters for the following topics, and may come up with more later on:  
> Ibiki – This chapter  
> Gen – Everything to do with Niju Buki and the forge.  
> Hinata – A chapter written from Hinata’s POV, detailing some of her training.  
> Basic Training – Beginner’s stuff that he would need to qualify for the ANBU academy  
> ANBU Basic Training – Stuff that would usually be taught to beginners at the ANBU academy  
> Advanced Training – Specialised stuff, such as stealth training, recon, etc.  
> Kyuubi – Progress he’s made with the Kyuubi and his chakra  
> Friendships – May combine with Kyuubi depending on content  
> Academy progress – pretty self-explanatory. Probably a comic-relief chapter more than anything  
> If you have any preferences for which order you’d like to see these chapters in (Excepting the three training ones as they have to stay together) then let me know, and I’ll do my best to oblige. Otherwise I’ll just work on the chapter I feel the most motivated to write and that’ll be that.   
> Sorry for the long note. I’m trying to cut down, I really am!  
> Speaking of which, this is a particularly long chapter as there is a lot of information to get into it. You’re welcome :)

** Timeskip 1 - Ibiki **

_“I’ll be collecting you from the academy on Tuesday afternoon for your first session.” He said. Before the boy could even respond, he turned around, opening the door and stepping through in one fluid movement._

_“Well Naruto” Iruka remarked jovially. “You’re one of the rare few people to actually impress the man known as The Torturer. Good job!”_

  
OoOoO

  
Naruto was awoken early the next day by a trio of knocks at his bedroom door, much to his chagrin. He’d been having one of his rare happy dreams, although by the time he’d opened his eyes the exact details were rather foggy.

The boy knew who was there before he’d even got out of bed, as he’d committed the man’s aura to memory only the night before. But just because he knew that it was Ibiki Morino stood outside his door, that didn’t mean he wasn’t confused as to _why_ he was there – he wasn’t meant to collect him until after class, right?

“Two Minutes.” Naruto called through the door. “I’m just getting changed.”

The tall man muttered his assent, but made no effort to move away from the door as the blond scrambled to put on his clothes.

“There’s been a change of plan.” He explained, clearly not bothered by the fact that there was a door between them. “I’ve obtained, from both the headmaster and Umino-san, permission to give you some private training for the day instead of going to the academy.”

Naruto raised a fist into the air silently, grinning at the prospect of a day out of class. Ibiki seemed to sense his enthusiasm, as he chuckled – or was it a grumble? You could never be sure with him.

“Don’t hold on to any delusions that you’re going to have an easy day, though. You have a lot to work on today and I don’t intend to let you go until you’ve completed it all.”

This caused the boy’s grin to drop a little, but not by a lot. After all, it couldn’t be THAT difficult…

Could it?

OoOoO

Less than an hour later, the pair were situated in one of the ANBU’s private training fields, which Ibiki had booked for the day.

“First of all,” He told the boy. “I want you to tell me what you know about this jutsu. That includes how you came up with the idea, how you turned the idea into a reality and how you tested it out. Leave no detail out.”

It took over ten minutes for Naruto to tell him the story, particularly as he was continually interjecting to ask questions throughout. By the time he had finished, a plan had formed in the jounin’s mind, and he wasted no time in relaying it to the blond.

“I want you to use your clones in a circle to estimate your output range, just as you did previously. But this time I want the Kyuubi to be feeding a steady flow of chakra into your system instead of a quick burst.”

Naruto nodded, and was about to begin when Ibiki stopped him, adding a second point.

“I want you to try to prevent the chakra from flowing out of your body, but keep it separated from your system.”

“So I do the usual thing where I separate the chakra?”

“Yes, but when you do that there is still some chakra that leaks out. I want you to suppress that as best you can.”

Naruto followed the instructions he’d been given, and found that his clone circle was almost half the size of the previous one. But as the steady stream of chakra continued to make its way into his system, it became harder and harder to keep a control on it, thus causing his circle to grow substantially.

“You can stop now.” Ibiki told him after two minutes had passed. The potent chakra had begun to affect Naruto’s appearance by this point – his nails beginning to grow into claws and his eyes taking on a reddish tinge.

“It seems like you’re unable to handle a lot of that chakra at once without it starting to affect you. So for now, until you can safely store it, you should stick to only using it in tiny amounts.” He continued as the boy studied his claws. “However, I want the smallest, most minimal amount of chakra trickled into your system at all times. Your body will gradually get used to it being in your system and you will be able to call on it much faster. I’m no expert, but I should imagine that when it starts to mix in with your chakra you will have a much better control on it too.”

Naruto nodded in understanding. Even despite his often-complicated way of speaking, Ibiki’s lectures always seemed to make perfect sense to him.

“So what should I do next?” He asked the jounin. With the amount of chakra in his system he was just _aching_ to do something practical and get rid of the adrenaline coursing through him. Ibiki could see as much for himself, and decided to set him a challenge. He reached into one of his pockets, pulling out a handful of shuriken.

“Dodge.” He replied simply, before immediately launching the shuriken as fast as he could towards the boy. He made sure not to aim for any vitals, but if Naruto didn’t act quickly it’d still cause quite a sting.

The blond watched the shuriken fly towards him, barely able to see much more than a blur as they approached. The first one sailed straight over his head, and a moment later his hand snapped up as if to catch it. A clone that had been nearby decided to jump forwards to save him from the next three, leaving him to throw himself into a backwards roll to escape the final two, which sailed past him an inch away from his face before landing in the ground with a thud.

Naruto had gone into his backwards roll with a little too much force, causing his head to bounce against the thankfully soft dirt as he landed in a heap. He picked himself back up, glaring warily at the man and rubbing his head.

“As I thought, the chakra has improved on your speed and reflexes, but your body is not used to it, and your eyes cannot catch up.” Ibiki remarked.

“You could have killed me!”

“You’re a shinobi, it happens. Besides, I wasn’t aiming for any vitals. You’d have survived.”

Naruto wasn’t exactly happy with that, but he did have a point.

“I believe you will gradually find that you have faster reflexes as the chakra trickles into your system.” The jounin told him. “Try focusing some of this chakra into your eyes.”

“I did that before.” The boy replied, but did so nonetheless. “I can see much better with it, and apparently the Kyuubi can see when I do it too.”

Unlike the last time, Naruto spent some time looking around, marvelling at how clear his vision had become. He wasn’t certain without further testing, but it seemed as though time had slowed down by a miniscule amount around him too.

“I’d look this way if I were you.” Ibiki stated, and the boy turned around to see five more shuriken coming his way.

A clone went to step in their path, but it was quickly stopped by a “no” from the original.

His eyes flickered between the two closest shuriken, roughly judging their flight path. They were likely going to fly at his shoulders, so he quickly dodged to the left and down towards the ground. He used a steel tip that was affixed to his sandals to kick a third one away from him, which had been directed towards his centre abdomen.

The next two were low; very low. Ibiki had saved them until he dodged and aimed them directly at his prone form.

Naruto rolled back to the right from his kneeling position, again overshooting it and crumpling in a heap flat on his stomach. The furthest shuriken sailed past him and into the dirt, while the final one flew across the top of his legs, carving a small cut into the both of them as it passed.

The boy scrambled back to his feet once more, gritting his teeth in pain as the tall man nodded approvingly.

“Having chakra in your eyes seems to improve not just your sight, but your focus too.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Naruto replied. “I only dodged them because they were slower than the first.”

Had he not been looking at the shallow cuts on his legs, the blond would have noticed the man quirk an eyebrow for a second before returning to his impassive expression.

“I think you’ll find that I threw those first two shuriken faster than the last time; the other three were pretty much the same speed.” Ibiki allowed the boy a moment to let that sink in before continuing. “But that’s besides the point, I was just curious to see what you could do with the chakra. It would have a good effect if you were to do that when we’re working, but then again you’ll be wearing a mask, so we’ll have to see.”

**_‘He’s talking about the fact that they turn red.’_** The Kyuubi supplied when he sensed that the boy was confused. But it seemed that Naruto was more interested in something else.

“I’ll wear a mask?” He asked. Ibiki could see a glint in his eye.

“Yes. On your first session you’ll have a blank mask. When I get to know you on a more professional basis I’ll have one designed for you… unless of course you already have one in mind?”

“I do, actually. I can send a clone?”

“Sure. I’m sending a clone too though; I won’t have any associate of mine wearing anything that will reflect badly on the reputation of the department.”

He wasn’t sure why it mattered, but it caused the Kyuubi to let out a snort of amusement. So he figured if it made sense to him then there was no point pushing the point further.

Ibiki created a clone, mimicking Naruto’s actions as he did the same.

The two clones went on their way towards the high street, leaving Naruto and Ibiki alone – with the exception of the clones that were still stood in the circle.

And the mildly enthusiastic glimmer that had worked its way into the tall man’s eyes was rather worrying.

OoOoO

It didn’t take long for Naruto to find the store; particularly thanks to the fact that it stuck out like a broken kunai next to the rest of the markets.

Instead of the usual plastic or wooden tables that the other places used, this stall consisted of a single tent made of various hides patched together. Nine different masks were placed on small hooks above the tent entrance, with a golden mask of a different design in the middle and ones of varying colours on either side. A small chest inside of the tent suggested that the vendors had more wares to sell should they enquire.

The most intriguing part about the stall though, was the vendors themselves. There were two of them, both dressed similarly in some kind of robe. They were male – or at least the pair thought they were male; it was kind of hard to judge when one considered the fact that these two vendors were literal cat-men.

Cat-men with ears and tails and slitted green eyes, and fur covering their anthropomorphic body from head to toe. They were actually quite similar to the Kyuubi when Naruto thought about it, although judging by the ominous growling that was now emanating from within his mind it seemed like he didn’t take too kindly to that statement.

“Ak’taba welcomes you, friend.”

Naruto was slightly taken aback by the way this person spoke, and it took him a moment to realise that he was talking in third person.

“Um, hi, I’d like to buy a mask please.” He asked tentatively.

“This is generally the purpose of this one’s caravan, yes?”

“Er- yes?”

The cat-man that had been speaking to him nodded at the boy, and seemed to be waiting for a further answer. Ibiki leaned down at this point, figuring that it’d be best to clarify what he’d made of the strange man’s speech.

“It seems to me he said something along the lines of “Well buying things is what you generally do at a shop, is it not?””

Naruto hummed in understanding.

“Khajiit finds this one nervous.” the man, presumably Ak’taba, remarked. He was staring right at the boy as he did so. “The human is scared, perhaps?”

The scarred man narrowed his eyes at the brash statement, but before he could respond the second cat-man approached them.

“Amurabi does not see fear in the eyes.” He told his partner. “But khajiit must not offend, this one does not wish to become a rug.”

When he saw Naruto scratching his head in confusion, Amurabi’s expression seemed to change.

“Forgive Amurabi’s partner, yes? Khajiit is new to this land and has not yet studied this one’s dialect.”

There was a sense of relief as this man seemed to make at least a little bit more sense to the boy. He straightened up a little, and decided to push his question again.

“I’d like to buy a mask, please.”

“Good, good. Which mask would suit this one? Amurabi thinks Konahrik.” He replied, moving over to the chest within the tent, and returning a few moments later with a copy of the golden mask that was hung over the door. There seemed to be a note attached to the mask, which he ignored for the time being in favour of turning to the jounin beside him.

“Is this okay?” He asked, to which he received a curt nod.

“Okay, I’ll take this please. How much is it?”

“One hundred seventy-five septims.” The feline answered, confusing them. When he saw their expressions, he pointed one clawed finger to the note hanging from the mask, which stated that the price equated to five hundred and twenty-five ryo.

The boy went to pay for the mask, but stopped when he realised something.

“We’re clones.” He remarked to Ibiki. “The money will disappear when we dispel.”

Naruto thought for a moment, before looking around and motioning to a rooftop. An ANBU appeared as he did so, causing the jounin to raise an eyebrow. Of course he’d known the ANBU was there, but he hadn’t realised that the blond could sense them too.

“Have you got 525 ryo?” Naruto asked the masked man. “I have the money back with boss, but since I’m a clone the money will disappear. I need to borrow it just until I get back, is that okay?”

The ANBU nodded, and pulled out the correct money. With Ibiki there he knew that the boy was being genuine.

Once the mask had been paid for, Naruto wanted to try it on. But the scarred jounin insisted on placing it into a storage scroll and tucking it away into one of his pockets.

“Not while you are identifiable.” He told the boy. “You are to remain anonymous during work.”

Naruto grumbled at that, but he did not contest it. They instead began the walk back to the training ground where the originals were training, this time with the ANBU member in tow.

OoOoO

Meanwhile, the original Ibiki had commanded Naruto to suppress his chakra again, asking the Kyuubi to continue trickling it in but increasing the flow by a tiny amount. This way he would still be getting used to the chakra constantly trickling in, but he would not start feeling the effects of it.

With the decreased chakra levels compared to how he trained previously, his clone circle had become much smaller, and he found it was much easier to suppress when there was so little of it.

When he’d established his minimum for chakra suppression, Ibiki had the clones take two steps forwards. The circle was less than a meter away from Naruto now, and they were all within the range of the chakra. The clones that no longer had space stood away from the rest, not dispelling as the boy would not be prepared for the memories.

“Suppress your chakra until the clones can no longer feel it.” Ibiki had told him. “They will sit down when that happens. When they are all seated, you are to hold the chakra for ten minutes. Then they will take another step forward, and you will suppress once more. This cycle will continue either until you have completely suppressed your chakra, or until you slip, and the clones begin to feel it during the ten minute wait.”

“What happens when I slip?”

“You start again from the beginning.” The jounin replied with a hint of a smirk. “And did I mention you won’t be leaving until you complete both this task and the next one?”

OoOoO

“Uuuughhh! Not again!” Naruto groaned as he saw a clone stand back up. An hour had passed since he’d begun this training, and he’d so far only managed to get to the second set of ten minutes before failing.

Upon counting the extra clones, Ibiki had separated them into two groups and commanded them to perform the same exercise. Naruto wasn’t too sure why he’d do that, but he wasn’t about to complain as he was too busy trying not to mess this next chance up.

But of course, fifteen minutes later, clone-Ibiki and clone-Naruto returned from their trip to the market, and broke his concentration once more.

“I’m going to be here all night, damnit!”

OoOoO

After that horrific first session, Naruto had only been able to complete that first task. It had taken him hours upon hours, and by the time he and was able to entirely suppress the effects of his tenant’s chakra it was actually starting to get dark.

“Keep practicing with suppressing your chakra when you get a chance.” The jounin had told him. “I’ll know if you don’t. I would suggest going on runs every other day before you go to the academy, focusing only on the Kyuubi’s chakra to prevent it from building up as your body gets used to it. I will know if you don’t do that either.”

And so he had. On the following Thursday, Naruto had woken up an 5am, pulled on his clothes groggily and gone for a run. He’d gone straight to the training ground that was closest to the academy so that he wouldn’t have far to go when he was done.

He’d completed nineteen laps of that damn field before the time came to go to class.

His chakra suppression had gone very well since then, too. When the night had ended, the clones that had also been practicing had been dispelled, and unbeknownst to the boy it had essentially tripled the progress he’d made. Every night before he went to sleep, the boy would sit on his bed beside two of his clones, working on suppression. Eventually he’d gotten bored of just sitting around for an hour though, so on some occasions he’d taken to reading through one of his more interesting books as he practiced.

While he’d made more mistakes from multitasking at first, Naruto soon came to find that the practice was beginning to sink in, and he didn’t even need to focus on suppression any longer.

The second session had been an all-day one again, as Ibiki had gotten permission to take him out of the academy for a day once more.

“The second task was going to be you suppressing chakra subconsciously, but since you’ve already gotten to that point we can move straight on to task three.”

Naruto had grinned widely at that. He knew that the man was impressed with him, even if he didn’t outright show it.

“Task three is suppressing the Kyuubi’s chakra.” Ibiki had continued.

“I can already do tha- “

“Constantly.”

“Wait… you mean…?”

“Yes. For the rest of today I will be teaching you how to act in a work environment, what to say and what not to say. I will teach you some communication signs too, which I will expect you to memorise by next week as I will be giving you orders strictly through these signs when we are working. And while all this is occurring, you and two of your clones are going to be suppressing your chakra the same way you’ve been doing at night.”

An endurance test, then. He could have a go at that.

OoOoO

It had now been three weeks since the beginning of his sessions with Ibiki, and Naruto couldn’t keep still thanks to nerves. At the end of the previous session, the scarred man had told him that he would be doing after-class training on Friday afternoon, and as promised had met him at the academy gates.

During this particular training day, the man had helped Naruto to prepare his Akuma Toei much faster than before, by utilising the chakra he’d been suppressing since the last Tuesday. Since he’d been subconsciously controlling the Kyuubi’s chakra for so long, the act of pulling a portion of it out and focusing it into his hands was a lot easier. It now took only one breath to begin the jutsu now; no longer requiring the ram seal to begin.

The time elapsed from the word “go” to the output of chakra was now two seconds, instead of twelve. It was still not good enough to use in the heat of battle – for that he’d need to be able to use it in less than a second. But it was still good enough for what Ibiki wanted for him.

And so, after two and a half weeks, he’d deemed Naruto fit to begin work with him.

…That is, of course, if the boy could pass the test.

“On Tuesday I’ll be picking you up from the academy at lunch time. A current ANBU squad are undergoing RTI – Resistance to Interrogation training. One of the phases of this training involves being brought to an interrogator such as one of my colleagues. Normally I have two people in the room during this stage – an experienced interrogator and a newbie or prospective interrogator.” Ibiki had told him as they walked back to Iruka’s house.

“So I’m going to be the newbie?”

“Yes. You’ll be doing most of the work, while one of my colleagues will keep an eye on you. I believe this time around it will be Anko.”

“I think I heard Iruka say her name once. Anyway, why aren’t you going to be in there?”

“This is a test to determine how good our prospective ANBU are, and of course to see if you’re up for the real job. I have to keep an eye from behind the scenes.”

“Okay. So I’ll be with this Anko, and I’ll have to use my knowledge and jutsu to interrogate someone for information?”

“Yes.”

When Tuesday had finally rolled around, Naruto found it harder than ever to concentrate on the classwork he was doing. He’d been given more work with each day in order to catch up on the time he’d missed, so he should have been working harder now more than ever. It wasn’t like he cared about the coursework, but the old man still had the ability to cancel his training if he so chose, and he’d promised that he would keep up on his work.

Iruka had been made aware of what would be happening, though, and he seemed to be a little less stern than usual because of it.

“Hinata, you’re done with your work now aren’t you?” He asked the girl.

“Well I-I just have to do two more questions.” She replied tentatively, activating her byakugan so that she could look at the teacher and work at the same time.

“Well when you’re done, why don’t you help Naruto out with the work he needs to catch up on?”

The Hyuuga was going to respond, but a louder voice cut over him.

“Sir, I’ve finished my work.” Ino said, in a slightly less bouncy voice than usual. “I can help out?”

Iruka’s eyes flicked from Ino to Naruto. It was clear that the boy didn’t want her help, but his hands were tied – refusing the Yamanaka after asking Hinata would show favouritism and that really wasn’t the way to do things here. He squeezed Naruto’s shoulder in apology, leaning down to whisper something to him before nodding to Ino and walking away.

“I don’t want your help.” Naruto muttered as the blonde sat beside him. “I can do this fine. I just have other things to think about.”

“Like what?”

“Like nothing.” He replied, frowning and turning away. His new job was to remain a secret.

“It’s still affecting you, isn’t it? Whatever happened to you, I mean.” Ino pushed, trying to get him to open up.

He chose to remain silent, and the girl took it to mean that she was correct. It was better to have her think that than to let her in on the secret he’d sworn to protect.

“I want to help, you know.”

“…”

“I might not be trained like my dad, but I sure know the signs of PTSD when I see them.”

“Why don’t you say it a little louder so that the whole class finds out?” Naruto snapped eventually, slamming his pencil down. The noise startled the person in front of him, but he didn’t care.

“It’s pretty clear even without people hearing that you’re going through something. What does it matter if they know?”

“ _Because it’s none of their business!”_ The boy hissed at her, sending a look of malice towards her. “And neither is it yours.”

“I know that. I’m just- “

“Then why do you keep bothering me?”

His voice had grown louder, and people were beginning to hear what he was saying.

“I’ve told you before, and I’m telling you again. Stop sticking your nose in!” Naruto yelled. “I don’t need your help!”

His breathing had quickened without him knowing, and it was only when he’d finished shouting that he realised that the classroom had gone silent. All eyes were turned his way, and it was _infuriating._

The blond stood up, checking his watch and taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He made a show of running his hands through his hair, using the movement to send his sensei a few signs.

_Time, alone, leave, ten, meet._

‘ _I need some alone time.’_ He interpreted. ‘ _I’m leaving now, then I’ll meet with Ibiki in ten minutes.’_

The chuunin nodded, and Naruto went to move towards the door. But when he realised he was trapped with Ino beside him, the boy instead turned to the nearby window and jumped out of there. The ‘poof’ of a clone dispelling told Iruka that he’d used his signature jutsu to break his fall.

OoOoO

Ibiki was mildly surprised to see the boy walking towards him, five minutes before they were actually due to meet. He’d finished his work faster today and had decided to take a slow walk towards the academy, rather than the usual shunshin he tended to prefer.

“Iruka let me go early so I used _that_ chakra to sense you.” Naruto explained, answering the question he hadn’t asked.

The boy was different, somehow. His tone of voice had changed, become much more… cold. It would seem that he’d gone through a recent struggle.

“Then we’ll take the extra time to get you acquainted with Anko.” He replied, grasping the blond’s shoulder. Ibiki couldn’t help but notice the way his shoulder had tensed up considerably, which only served to add to his previous suspicions. “We’re going by shunshin.”

With a quick hand-seal and a swirl of leaves, the pair vanished from sight.

Naruto blinked his eyes a few times, trying to get used to the sudden change in lighting. It was a particularly sunny day today, so the sudden movement from bright sunlight to a dimly lit room was rather disorientating.

“This is the staffroom of the Torture and Interrogation department.” Ibiki explained as he looked around. “While there is a different entrance, many of us prefer to use the shunshin for security purposes. As it happens, there are seals around the facility that prevent the use of space-time ninjutsu to some degree. Attempting to transport yourself here without clearance will result in the technique failing.”

“Nice to know…” He replied. “If I start working here will I get that clearance? And will I be able to learn shunshin?”

“Well the shunshin is a relatively easy jutsu. Many genins can learn it so I don’t see why not. As for the clearance – well let’s just see if you get through today first.”

He’d expected the boy to grumble about that, or at least make some kind of complaint. But instead he just nodded and turned away.

As he did so, a woman with purple hair and a tan coat entered the room, pausing as she caught sight of him.

“Ibi-kun, don’t tell me this is the brat I’m going to have to carry through RTI…” She exclaimed brashly. The corner of Naruto’s mouth turned up slightly at the nickname, but he otherwise remained impassive.

“That’s right.” He told her. His voice was cold and empty, much unlike the Naruto that Ibiki knew.

The scarred man frowned and signed towards the woman, who nodded and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Well whatever, kid. I’m Anko Mitarashi. Just make sure you’re in chamber two at half past twelve. If you’re late I’ll fail you.”

With that she turned on her heel and exited the way she came, only pausing to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen that took up half of the room as she did so.

Ibiki motioned to Naruto to go and sit down in the sitting-room of sorts that was situated in the other half of the staffroom. He obeyed, flopping down on to a sofa and casting empty eyes towards his superior.

“Explain.” The man commanded, and somehow he knew exactly what he meant.

“It’s nothing.” The boy tried to palm off, but Ibiki’s stern look convinced him to continue. “I just had an argument with someone in class. She found out I have PTSD and she’s trying to push me to tell her what’s going on.”

“Ino.” It wasn’t a question – it seemed that he understood. That or he just knew more than he was letting on.

“Yeah. I got angry and snapped at her… then when I saw everyone watching I just went numb. It’s actually kind of nice not to have to feel things.”

That was certainly cause for concern. Giving up on feeling was a common coping strategy for suffering persons; even Ibiki, who didn’t have as much psychological knowledge as his second-in-command, could see that. But right now, that was the last thing he needed.

“Naruto, given what you’ve told me I’m going to have to cancel your test today.” He explained. “It’s one thing to _appear_ emotionless, to pretend that the emotions running through you are not there. But it’s entirely different to be completely numb altogether. Even though you will be working with people who often do not deserve compassion, it is still important to have a check on emotions. Therefore I am sorry but- “

“Don’t do this.”

“You must remember that these are not prisoners today. They are colleagues.”

“I know, but please, just let me do this. I’ll stay in the corner for the first couple people if you want me to, I’ll just watch. But just don’t cancel this now.”

Ibiki paused for a while, considering his options. After a few moments he walked over to one wall, placing his hand on one of the many strange-looking icons that had been placed on there.

“Summons seals.” He explained for the boy’s sake. “You channel chakra into them and they alert the person that’s linked to that seal. This is- “

The door burst open once more, and Anko walked in.

“You called?”

He clasped his hands behind his back, turning to walk back towards Naruto. This way Anko could see the communication signs he was sending her, but the blond could not.

_‘There’s been a hitch. I’m keeping him to one side for a while. When he begins to show emotion I’ll let him through. Explain later.’_

“I think it’s time you took Naruto to get suited up.” He told her in person, in an effort to disguise the silent orders. When he was done, he grabbed a storage scroll and handed it to her. “Here’s the equipment he’ll need. Take him to the bathroom to sort himself out, and I’ll see you in Ob two.”

“Hey, Anko-san, what’s Ob two?” Naruto asked as they were walking towards the bathroom.

“That’s senpai to you, brat!” She exclaimed. “And it means Observation two. It’s the room next to chamber two, where you can observe what’s going on.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks senpai.”

The items that Anko had given him were simple but effective. The mask he’d bought a few weeks ago was there, alongside a simple dark grey hooded cloak. A set of gloves made of leather were there too, each with a metal plate on the palm with a hole cut in the middle. Presumably it was like that so that his jutsu would work properly.

OoOoO

The “chambers”, as they called them, were practically glorified jail cells, but with a single chair in the room instead of a bed. There was an entrance on either side of the chamber; one leading into the staff-only areas of the facility, and the other leading a direct path to the prison cells.

The wall with the staff entrance was split down the middle by the door itself – a thick, iron gate of sorts that would be difficult to get out of without the key. On one side of the door, a long table lined the wall, numerous tools and equipment weighing it down. It put the boy in mind of the shelves at Niju Buki.

Along the other side of the door there were shelves of various liquids and phials, the names of which he couldn’t read from where he was standing.

“This is chamber two, which is usually used for the more physical forms of interrogation.” Anko explained gleefully. “Torture, poisoning, stuff like that.”

“Each chamber has a different use.” Ibiki interjected. “There are five in total, with each one specialising in a specific form of interrogation. Chamber one is for mind-based techniques – Yamanaka-san’s business. Chamber two you can see, chamber three is for long-term techniques such as stress positions and water torture, four is for direct questioning, five is a sealing room for particularly high-risk subjects.”

“Since we tend to use lots of different techniques in these RTI sessions we just use chamber two.” Anko continued, turning the explanation into a sort of “tag” game between them. “Of course for the people who use different techniques we can just bring the stuff in here. It’s harder to do that with all these tools.”

“Besides, Anko is almost always the senior interrogator here, and her speciality is tools.”

It was a lot of information but it was also interesting, so Naruto didn’t mind spending the extra couple of moments letting it all sink in.

“Right.” Ibiki suddenly exclaimed, making him jump slightly. “It’s about time we start with the sessions, don’t you think?”

Naruto hummed in agreement while Anko simply nodded.

“Well then brat, I’m heading in. “ The purple-haired woman told him. He went to put his mask on, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“You’re sitting the first few out.” Ibiki commanded. “For now, just watch.”

The purple-haired woman sauntered out of the Ob room that they were currently stood in and went through to the chamber. There was a one-way window leading into the chamber, which Naruto watched her through.

“Channel some chakra to your eyes.” Ibiki said. “You’ll be able to study their expressions better.”

Naruto did so, his eyes glowing red in the low light as he watched the first of the victims enter the room.

Needless to say, as he watched Anko work her “magic”, his emotions soon returned.

OoOoO

“Nice of you to join us, Konahrik.”

Naruto was initially confused at the woman’s decision to nickname him, until he remembered that he was meant to be completely anonymous.

Sticking to his character, he let out a low grunt before standing in the corner as Ibiki had instructed him to do. A clipboard was thrust at him, the contents of the first row already filled out.

_“You’ll be directly observing until Anko tells you otherwise.”_ He’d been told. _“Take notes on the current prisoner, including what information they give you and any changes in their body language. This is important – missing details can mean the difference between real and fake information.”_

The current prisoner was tied to the chair with his hands bound behind him, and bound by each ankle to the leg of the chair he was seated on. Anko walked towards him, plastering a seductive smile across her face.

“So, Shujin…” She began. “You look lonely. Why don’t you tell us what you know, and then we can have…” She pressed a hand to one of her breasts, leaning down so that her face was right in front of his. “Some fun.”

The prisoner, Shujin, was surprisingly unaffected by her actions, and simply shook his head resolutely. The response, or lack thereof, caused Anko to pause, before she tried once more. Her hand brushed across his thigh this time, edging close to a certain place. But still he didn’t react.

“Fine.” She pouted. “Suit yourself. I guess I’ll have to get… creative.”

Naruto smirked from behind his mask, making a note on his clipboard.

“Tell me, Shujin, are you thirsty?”

“A little, ma’am.”

“Ooh, a gentleman, eh? Then I’m going to give you a choice.”

She walked over from where she had been pottering at the table, holding three bottles of liquid.

“Pick one.”

“What’s in them?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

“I- I’m not thirsty enough to take my chances, ma’am.”

Behind her back, Anko made a sign. _Stage 1._

It was the first of a few different signs that he and Ibiki had talked about during that session. Each “stage” was a command for a certain aspect of his jutsu. In this case…

Heavy killing intent swept around the room. It was unclear to the prisoner who had caused the sudden feeling, and since Naruto was simply making notes in the corner he assumed that it was Anko.

“Come on, Shujin…” She asked him in a deceptively sweet voice. “Drink.”

He finally agreed, pointing at the middle bottle and drinking deeply when it was opened and held to his lips. The heat from the killing intent that was now beginning to subside had sent his mouth dry, and the liquid was blissfully hydrating.

“My, my, you made a bad choice.” The woman whispered to him, darting her tongue out to brush against his earlobe. “You now have poison running through your body.”

She watched with satisfaction as his eyes widened, and a sense of fear was evident on his face. Naruto noted it down.

“Very soon you are going to be overcome with thirst. No matter how much water you drink, you’re going to be left absolutely desperate for more. We’re going to sit here until you spill your secrets, boy.”

The fear in his eyes seemed to… recede?

“Please… just let me have the antidote, and then I’ll talk.” He begged. “Please, my throat is so dry.”

The woman picked up one of the other two bottles, opening it and beginning to slowly pour it onto the ground.

“Talk. I won’t be giving you this antidote until you give me the answers I need.”

The technique must have worked, because soon after the man was pouring out all of the information he knew as fast as he could before the liquid would run out.

“See, Shujin? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Anko remarked. Around half of the liquid was left.

“Please… the antidote…”

She poured the rest of the water onto the ground in a fluid movement, as Naruto internally laughed at the pun he’d just thought up.

“There is no antidote.” The woman smirked. “You fell for a simple bottle of water. Great job.”

As the subject froze, she turned around and walked back to the table at a leisurely pace, putting the bottles back in their place.

The click of a clipboard being placed on the table caught her attention, however, as Naruto began to advance towards Shujin.

He began to channel chakra, sending some to his throat. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but it was worth a try.

**“Foolish boy.”** He said, the demonic chakra causing his voice to become gravelly and deep. **“Did you really think that you could lie to us, and get away with it?”**

Anko was watching intently as the boy spoke, choosing not to intervene. There was a much more prominent sense of fear in the man’s eyes now. Ibiki, meanwhile, slapped a palm to his face as he recognised something else.

“He’s gay, of course he is.” The scarred man said to no one in particular. “And he’s turned on by Naruto’s deep voice!”

Naruto held his hands behind his back, looking as though he was clasping them together. Ibiki and Anko both watched with intrigue as he created eight clones, four on either side of him, each one wearing a different mask.

They were in henge, of course, and the masks were made to look like the other eight that had been on sale at the strange stall.

**“You are not doing yourself any favours by refusing to answer, Shujin.”** They all spoke at once, their voices mingling to create a terrifying chorus. **“This is your final warning.”**

Despite the fearful look in his eyes, and the sweat pouring down his face, the prisoner refused to respond.

**“I did not have to do this.”** Naruto muttered as his clones now remained silent. **“But you give me no choice.”**

He raised his hands into a familiar stance – or at least, it was familiar to Ibiki. The time that Naruto had spent warning the man meant that he was able to take his time gathering the chakra, and the jutsu began almost immediately.

It was much less powerful than it normally was, but the jutsu had an immediate effect on the man.

**“Speak.”** He commanded to the prisoner. A shake of the head was all he got in return.

The clone on either side of him raised their arms too, and the jutsu began to get stronger.

**“I said SPEAK!”** Naruto yelled, watching as Shujin flinched.

“I will not.” He managed to croak, before the next two clones began to contribute to the jutsu.

**“This will not end until you tell us what we want to know.”**

Two more clones added to the fray, now amounting to seven. The jutsu was now at about the same power level as it was for Ibiki, and it was really beginning to show. The man was beginning to shake and quiver like a leaf, but still his gaze remained resolute.

Naruto looked over at Anko, silently asking a question. She replied with a nod, which was all the final two clones needed to add to the intensity of the jutsu. The strength of their contribution was almost twice the amount that the other clones were outputting.

It was with a sense of morbid fascination that Naruto and his clones watched as every muscle in the man’s body began to cramp. The shaking stopped as he was no longer able to move, and a low moan escaped his lips as his body was overtaken with agony.

A second glance towards Anko received a second nod, and they cancelled the jutsu immediately. Shujin slumped forwards in his chair, nearly tipping it over had it not been for Naruto catching him and beginning to untie the ropes.

It was clear that they would not be getting the information from this man. He was simply too strong-willed.

His eyes began to flutter open as Naruto released the last rope binding him, and three clones moved forwards to support his weight.

“We shah go ou’ some time” He slurred, too out of it to realise what he was saying. “Your voice is… so _hot!”_

The original Naruto stepped back, absolutely mortified by the man’s proposition. It fortunately hadn’t brought back any unpleasant memories, but he had no idea what he could say to that.

“Trust me Shujin,” Anko told him, thankfully saving him. “He’s far too young for you. Welcome to the ANBU by the way, you pass!”

OoOoO

“Well Naruto, I must say that was interesting” Ibiki told him three hours later, when they’d finally finished with the interrogations. “But I have to ask, how did you know that subject two, Shujin was lying?”

“That’s easy, when Anko’s back was turned I saw him smirk. Not to mention when she told him about the “poison” he relaxed. I think he already knew that it wasn’t a poison.”

“I agree. I noticed him relax but I figured it was more due to him thinking that thirst wasn’t such a big deal.” Ibiki replied. “Though I must have been writing notes when he smirked – I don’t recall seeing such a change.”

“I guess you thought it was over. You let your guard down Ibiki!”

“First of all, when you and I are working you will refer to me as Morino-sama or Morino-dono. You may refer to your colleagues as they prefer, but you will always refer to me with such a title.”

“Yes Morino-sama.” Naruto answered. “Wait… My colleagues… you mean…?”

“Yes, Uzumaki-san, you pass. Welcome to the team.”

OoOoO

** Memoirs of the nine-tailed fox chapter 4 **

** Jinchuuriki **

I am not my jinchuuriki. My jinchuuriki is not me. We are two separate entities, bound together by a seal. The foolish notion that my jinchuuriki is a killer just because I supposedly am, is as ignorant as the idea that a pregnant woman is a baby.

Just because she contains a child, that does not mean that she is a child.

You would not condone this concept, so why do you insist on believing in the same thing when it involves me? When faced with the unknown, you humans become hypocrites, turning your back on logic and reason in favour of blindly ignoring the truth.

Just like those of you who are under the impression that I do not wish to be sealed into a jinchuuriki.

As a chakra construct, I was created in the name of peace. Just as my fellow bijuu were. But of course, many of the strongest weapons were created in the name of peace, and yet you humans fight for control over them.

I am no exception. When I am free to roam in the wild, I am chased and tracked down. I am forced to fight my way out of encounters in order to retain my freedom, or risk being locked into a human. There is no respite for me unless I am sealed.

I would much prefer to rest comfortably in a seal than cope with the daily struggle of facing adversity like that which I mentioned. Within a jinchuuriki, I am limited to viewing thought patterns and listening through the human’s ears. But I do not mind. I could speak with a jinchuuriki if I required any form of social contact.

As I said, I am one of peace. I do not willingly provide my jinchuuriki with chakra unless they have proven to me that they are worthy of using it. That they are on a quest for peace, not for war. Though, if they are planning to use the chakra for an entertaining cause I may of course oblige.

It is true that I may seek revenge against one who has slighted me in the past, but this is only because I know that such a person will do the same again. I trust in my instinct to destroy a person, because destruction is often the only way to prevent them from causing more unrest in the future.

There are currently two people who inspire this desire for destruction. One of those people has slighted not just myself, but my current jinchuuriki on a separate occasion.

They say hell has no fury like a woman scorned, but I beg to differ:

Because I warn you, scorner. My jinchuuriki and I will bring down the fires of hell on to the pathetic excuse of a human being that you are. 

That is a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points if you understand the Khajiit reference :)  
> There are two pictures of Naruto’s mask on my DA profile. The first one is from a while ago – a drawing of Ibiki and Naruto stood together. At the time I was planning on having him wear the “Rahgot” mask because of the irony of its stats, but when I saw the name “Konahrik” the similarity to the village’s name was too great to ignore.   
> Thus the second picture uploaded is of Naruto wearing the correct mask.


	14. Timeskip 2: Gen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto learns to smith, picks up a new hobby and finally finishes his sword.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should Naruto find the instructions for the Hiraishin?
> 
> So far the hiraishin poll has a very unbalanced response, with four individual votes against one. I won't divulge the results thus far though. If you want to have your say, please vote. The poll is listed on my profile on ff.net.
> 
> Not sure if I said this in the last chapter, but chapters within the timeskip have a chance of being much longer than normal chapters, primarily because of the amount of content I'm putting in. This will continue now, as my writing ability improved tenfold in the chapters after the timeskip in the original, which means that I'll be writing a lot more content. I'm not certain right now, but there may well be a few chapters that reach 10k+ words!
> 
> Edit: Though now I'm looking at it, probably not with this chapter.
> 
> So… I made an embarrassing realisation today. Over fourteen chapters, I've never – not once! – described what Koyaku looks like. I'm so sorry about that; description isn't really my strong point.
> 
> Because of this goof-up, I will not be including a Memoirs chapter – instead I am going to write a fluffy little exerpt about Koyaku and Iruka, and this time around I'm going to make sure I describe her. I might even be able to bribe my sister into doing a drawing of her for me.
> 
> Edit – I got a picture, it'll be up shortly just as soon as I've finished it.
> 
> Sorry about the long time between uploads; there's been a lot going on. I'm an adult now, and adult responsibilities have hit me like a truck T-T

**Timeskip 2 – Niju Buki**

Over the months, Naruto found his schedule becoming hectic, and no week was ever the same as the next. So much change, however, just made his work at Niju Buki refreshingly simple.

Every Saturday was more or less the same – the boy would spend half the day stocking shelves and manning the checkout of the tool shop, chatting to customers and sometimes giving them advice. He wasn't as good as Gen was at estimating someone's perfect weapon type, but with the weekly tutelage he was gradually beginning to understand the basics.

At noon, Gen would pass him some money to buy food from one of the local vendors for the three of them. He'd offered many a time to put some money towards this food, but the man had always shut him down, telling him that the fact that he went and got it was payment enough.

At first, Gen had had Tenten keep an eye on the shop floor for the afternoon, but Naruto seized the opportunity to strike a deal with her.

" _Hey, Tenten, I can just create a clone to do this for you, if you want." He'd remarked one day._

" _That'd be nice, but I really don't think you'd do that for free." The older girl had replied, narrowing her eyes at him._

" _Aah, you got me there Tenten-chan, but I think you would like the condition."_

" _I'll believe that when I hear it, Naru."_

_The boy had sent a mock glare at her when she'd said that – Gen had taken to calling him by such a nickname, despite his exasperated response, and she'd taken to doing the same._

" _I leave a clone here for you, and in return you get to spar with some of my clones downstairs. Does that sound okay?"_

" _Actually that sounds good. I've been wondering when I can kick your ass again."_

And so after lunch every Saturday, Naruto himself headed to the forge with Gen to learn the art of the blacksmith, while several of his clones headed into the training room to practice their kenjutsu.

He'd started creating around ten clones, but after they kept finding themselves dispelled within a few minutes, Naruto eventually gave them different orders – to create 'secondary' clones to fight, but to not fight themselves. That way he didn't have to keep stopping to create more, and Tenten got all the fighting she wanted.

He often spent several hours in the forge, tinkering and playing around with the blades he'd been tasked with smithing. It was tough work remembering all of the techniques, not to mention the thousands of different tools and weapons he had yet to learn to create.

Even the time he spent within the forge was much the same every week. Gen would first teach him how to create a certain tool or weapon, and he'd spend a few hours perfecting it before tinkering with the tools he'd learned to create the week before.

They'd started on relatively simple things; senbons, metal bo staffs, things like that. But as the weeks passed by, his ability grew, and he found himself able to create high-quality kunai, shuriken and even some daggers.

It had taken six weeks for Gen to decide that he was adequate enough to start working on his own design of sword.

OoOoO

"Naru, how are you doing with your fuuma blades?" He asked the boy, watching as he brought a stick of glowing red metal to the anvil. He'd been perfecting the design of the fuuma blades for two sessions now; having learned it the week before and received orders to continue practicing for this week.

"They're good, I've finally perfected the edge between the two different metals now." The blond replied, bringing a hammer down on the metal before him. "I've got the handle down too, although I haven't been able to weld the pieces of the bearing onto it yet."

The man nodded in approval. Naruto had worked very hard on every task he'd been set, sometimes even shocking him with how much determination he seemed to bolster. It never took him more than a few attempts to work out what he was doing wrong, either.

"Well, once you're done with that blade, I'd like you to leave three clones in here to continue practicing and come up to my office. I have something to talk to you about."

He noted how the boy's hammering faltered for just a moment, then continued back in its steady rhythm.

"Gotcha, sensei. I won't be long."

OoOoO

As promised, Naruto had finished up with his fuuma blade quickly enough, and began to make his way up to see Gen. When he entered, the man was just pouring a drink from the sake bottle he kept in his desk.

"Enough for two?" The boy half-joked as he sat down. When the man sent him a look, he decided to elaborate. "I've drank sake before. I kinda stole it, although I did leave money on the counter, so I guess it isn't really stealing. It turns out I can drink half a bottle before even starting to feel drunk."

Half a bottle? That was impressive. It had taken years of social drinking for his body to be able to hold that much alcohol, so the way Naruto had nonchalantly remarked as much was certainly cause for Gen to raise an eyebrow. Perhaps he could test that theory- although…

"You don't… make a habit of that, though?" He asked carefully. He knew all too well how it felt to use sake as a coping strategy, and though he wasn't sure exactly what had happened to the boy, he didn't want to take the chance.

"Nah, that was one time when I was feeling kinda down." Naruto replied sheepishly. "It's not like anyone would sell it to me anyway. And besides that Iruka would kill me!"

The man nodded in understanding, then grabbed another cup. The blond's eyes widened slightly, but he said nothing as he turned to the sheets of paper that lay on the desk.

"Yep, that's your sword design." He confirmed, following the boy's gaze. "I thought we could talk about it for a while."

"Okay."

"So, now that you know how to create fuuma blades, can you see any problems with your design?"

Naruto slid the papers closer to him, sitting in the nearest chair. Knowing now what he didn't know before, it was indeed clear that this design had flaws.

"It's unbalanced." He said. "It needs a longer hilt, and a slightly narrower blade."

"Got it in one." Gen replied, clapping him on the back then sitting down himself. "there's also a problem here, if you see…"

OoOoO

Over the next hour, the two discussed various parts of the sword. Every aspect of the blade was thoroughly considered by the weapons master, and once he was happy with everything he began to write it up on a blueprint sheet.

"We're going to work on improvised metalwork next week." He told the boy, earning a quizzical look. "Since your sword isn't exactly like anything else we've worked on, you're going to have to improvise to make it work. Does that make sense?"

"Sort of." Naruto replied. "So what's going to be different next week?"

"Instead of showing you how to create something, I'm going to give you a blueprint. You'll have to create a tool from scratch, without knowing how to." Gen explained. "After all, being a blacksmith is about being able to create anything, not just the tools you know."

At that moment Naruto paused, flinching slightly. The memory of his most recent clone dispelling had filtered through to his mind, causing his eyes to widen and his hands to automatically move down to cup his groin.

Tenten sure had good aim…

OoOoO

[One week later]

It was a quiet day at Niju Buki, and as such there were very few customers to distract Naruto from the boredom of working at the checkout.

He wasn't stuck with nothing to do, as there were always shelves to stock, weapons to clean. But they were still pretty boring chores, so the boy let his clones do that work, and instead sat behind the counter practicing a new hobby he'd picked up.

The hobby in question was whittling, in which he was using a kunai and a small piece of wood to carve little figures. Naruto had spotted a collection of little wooden figurines in Gen's office, and the man had taken down a few and explained their meaning.

"These three are myself and the members of my old genin team. We all became chuunin with the same exam, so I made a set for each of us. If I remember right, Chi-san still keeps his with him."

He'd been completely enamoured by the idea of making little figurines, and had promptly asked if Gen had any wood for him to try it himself.

Needless to say his first attempt wasn't very good. And while he'd improved over the few weeks he'd been practicing, there was still a long way to go before he could carve like his buki-sensei.

Currently he was trying to carve a little fox – although right now it was more of an oddly-shaped lump.

The shop door closed with a click, startling him. The kunai slipped, lopping off what was supposed to be the fox's ear.

"Ah, hey, welcome to Niju…"

His voice trailed off as he registered the man who was approaching him.

"Old man Teuchi? What are you doing here?" He asked.

Before the ramen chef could answer him, a kunai flew from behind Naruto, aimed directly at him. But without even breaking his stride, he reached up and flicked it out of the way as if it were little more than a particularly annoying fly.

The blond whirled around to see Gen grinning from behind him, twirling a second kunai on his index finger.

"Gen!" The chef called, breaking into a grin of his own. "It's been too long, how've you been?"

The two clasped each other in a tight hug, leaving Naruto extremely confused.

"I… didn't know you knew each other!" He muttered, catching their attention finally. Gen grinned and clapped Teuchi on the back, laughing heartily.

"We don't just know each other," The bukijutsu master remarked. "We're like brothers!"

"Oh." was all he could respond with. "So anyway… what are you doing here? I didn't think…"

"Didn't think I would come to a shinobi-oriented store?" Teuchi completed his unspoken statement.

"Well, yeah."

Naruto didn't miss the look the two shared, and he couldn't help but feel like he was missing something here.

Gen walked over and put his hand in one of the chef's pockets, pulling out a set of keys and dangling them in front of the boy. The first thing he saw was the keyring that he'd gifted Teuchi a few weeks ago, and a warm feeling welled up within him as he realised that the man had kept it.

But his attention was soon diverted to something else that was attached to the keys.

"You- you're 'Chi-san!?" he near-shouted as he examined the three wooden figures. "You were on his team! I didn't even know!"

"Damn 'chi, didn't you ever tell him you were a shinobi?" Gen asked, sending an incredulous look at his teammate.

"Well, I'm retired now so it doesn't really matter anyway. People have all but forgotten about our past, I'd rather not correct them." He replied sheepishly. "Anyway, that reminds me. I came by to see if you had any new knives in stock?"

The boy shook his head, answering for Gen. "I checked stocks this morning, the cooking knives are out."

A glint seemed to form in his sensei's eye as he clapped the boy on the back.

"Well then Naruto, I think I've worked out what your first improvised metalwork task is going to be!"

OoOoO

Three weeks later saw Naruto working tirelessly in the forge, finally being given the go-ahead to start working on his own blade. As he already knew how to make a fuuma blade it proved to be pretty easy – that is, until he got to the handle.

Unlike with a fuuma blade, the handle of his sword had to be comfortable to hold, and considerably longer than its original counterpart. While this would be easy on any other blade, the double-sided design that they'd decided on made it much harder, as he had to make sure that the two metals were both equally connected, and correctly positioned.

The improvised metalwork task that he'd been set a fortnight before was pretty useful for something like this, but the blueprint's proportions were a far cry from his current task.

He sighed in annoyance and threw the piece he was working on to one side. For some reason, he just couldn't get it right, despite all the different training he'd done to begin with. It was infuriating to say the least.

' _I think it's time to ask Gensei for some help.'_ He thought to himself, before removing his goggles and heading upstairs.

OoOoO

"Hey Hinata, can I talk to you for a second?"

The girl jumped slightly, causing three of the twelve kunai she'd been holding to fall to the ground. Naruto jogged over to her, gathering up the dropped tools and falling into step behind her. Mizuki watched after him with narrowed eyes but didn't say anything.

"Hi N-Naruto-kun." Hinata answered, keeping her eyes to the ground in an effort to hide her blush.

"So I was wondering, have you practiced with your senbon yet?" He asked, juggling the three kunai to catch a fourth that slipped from her arms.

"I-I trained for a while, but my father c-caught me. He said it was unbecoming of a hyuuga t-to rely on tools, but he was impressed with m-my use of them, so he let me keep them. I just c-can't practice in the compound."

"Oh. That sounds kinda frustrating." The boy replied. She simply nodded, but didn't say any more as the pair had reached the store cupboard, and busied themselves with putting the tools away.

"So anyway, you know how I started working on a sword like a month ago?" He asked eventually. "Well, sensei helped me finish it last week, and he said he's going to whittle a wooden version for this week too."

"That's c-cool, did you finish the sheath t-too?"

"Yep!" Naruto answered, grinning happily. "It was hard to make the sheath because it's a weird design, but it works really well now!"

"I'm glad, Naruto-kun. It sounds g-great."

"It is, I'm really happy with it. Hey, sensei's busy tomorrow so I've got the afternoon off. Do you want to do some senbon training there? We can show each other how we've improved!"

"You know, I-I would love that."

"Awesome! We usually get lunch at twelve so if you want to come then, I'll get some f- "

"Naruto!" The pair were startled by a loud voice, the owner of which was glaring at the boy. "I thought I told Hinata to put the kunai away, not you. Stop bothering her and get back to the line!"

Mizuki waited, tapping his foot impatiently until the two of them passed, then walked directly behind them as they headed back to the field.

"T-twelve it is then." Hinata muttered under her breath as quietly as she could.

"Great!" Naruto answered, in a voice even quieter than hers. But Mizuki seemed to catch it and bopped him on the top of the head.

"I never said you could talk, did I?"

"…No sensei."

OoOoO

"Okay Naru, that's time. I'm not staying for lunch, but Tenten's here so you can grab some food for her and yourself. When did you say Hinata would be here?"

"Twelve." He replied, not looking up from the swords display he was organising. "I'm buying her some lunch."

Gen raised an amused eyebrow, before dropping the usual amount of coins onto the counter.

"um, sensei? You gave me too much money." The boy remarked a moment later, walking over and peering down at them.

"Oh, whoops!" He exclaimed, winking at Naruto. "Then I guess you can spend the extra on your friend!"

"Heheh, thanks Gensei!"

"No problem. Now, I suggest you get something with a high calorie content if I were you. The girl needs some more meat on her bones. The dango shop down the road, perhaps." Gen told him. "It's not exactly a lunch, but still it's a tasty treat. And did you know the savoury dango they sell is more nutritious than a military-grade rations bar?"

"I didn't, thanks for telling me. I'll sort that now." Naruto answered, but before he could leave Gen stopped him once more.

"Your bokken is in the training room, by the way. I've weighed it down so that it's about the same as your actual sword, and it fits in the sheath too."

OoOoO

Hinata arrived at the shop just as Naruto did, his arms laden with bags of food. His sheepish grin as he struggled to kick the door open was just adorable, and she couldn't help a blushing smile of her own as she moved to help him through.

Once Naruto had sent a clone to Tenten with her food, they decided to sit in the training room to eat - it was out of the way, and they were going to be spending most of their time down there anyway.

"I brought some dango today," The boy told her, passing over a bag. "Apparently the stall makes these nice savoury ones so I thought we could try them."

The Hyuuga nodded her thanks, opening the bag up to reveal a veritable feast of dango, complete with a dipping sauce and some chopsticks. Instead of the usual mitarashi sauce that was supplied, this one was much saltier, and perfectly complemented the dumplings.

It felt as though her strength was increasing simply because of this delicious meal!

Naruto also enjoyed the dango, but they didn't beat the taste of Ichiraku ramen, of course. Nonetheless, he ate with all of his usual vigour, easily finishing before Hinata had even managed to get through half of hers.

"When you've finished, I've brought some dessert." He stated, grabbing a second bag and placing it down beside her. "I saw them taking some out of the oven as I was walking past and they smelled delicious, so I thought I'd get some."

Hinata swallowed her food, thanking him once more. Though she hadn't yet finished her dango, Naruto's description had caught her attention, and so she peered into the bag.

A wide smile spread across her face as she spotted the container of cinnamon buns.

"N-Naruto-kun, how did you know those were my favourite?" She asked happily.

"Oh, I didn't!" He replied, returning her smile. "But I'm glad you like them."

"Did you get them f-from Nikkeihi Pan-ya?"

"Aah, I don't know. It's just the stall that you go past on the way here."

"Yes, that was them. I love that p-place like you… like you love Ichiraku, I mean."

The boy nodded in understanding, fortunately not noticing the way she had to correct herself, nor the blush that had begun to creep up her face. It was hard to notice anything when he was stuffing the last delicious cinnamon bun into his mouth after all.

"Hey, do you mind if I go and get my swords out while you finish eating?" He asked when he was done. "I just want to get the sheath on and practice something."

"That's f-fine by me." The girl answered him. She thought it was strange that he referred to his "swords" in a plural manner, but let it drop for now.

…that is, until he pulled out two identical swords from where they'd been stowed away.

"I didn't know you had t-two swords." She remarked.

"Well, me neither. Not until Gen told me about an idea he'd been working on. Hold on- I'll show you."

Naruto pulled out one of the swords and walked back over, showing it to the girl. He explained all the different functions of it as he went along, talking excitably as she listened and nodded along.

The swords themselves were identical, each sporting a blade of a very similar shape to that of a folding fuuma shuriken. The handle of the swords, which Naruto had had so much trouble with, were made of the two different metals that made up the blades. The two sections of the sword blade extended into the handle, twisting around so that they were on the reverse side.

This was done specifically to aid him in channelling chakra into the sword – when holding it in his kenjutsu stance, the blade he intends to use faces down, so he had to have the metal of said blade twist around to be touching his palm. This meant that he could use both edges of the swords for their individual functions.

**[A/N – Imagine a front view of the blade. When the light-coloured metal is facing down on the sword, it is twisted so that it faces upwards on the handle. Likewise for the darker metal. I'll probably make a drawing/guide for it later.]**

The sharper edge of the sword, the lighter section, was made of sealing steel – though for now it was devoid of any runes. The other, darker edge was made of chakra-conductive metal. This side was actually relatively blunt, of a similar sharpness to that of a pair of children's scissors. But Naruto hoped that the implementation of the Kyuubi's chakra would provide some useful effects. Besides that, Iruka had explained the basics of elemental manipulation to him, and from the sound of it once he began to learn about that he would be able to use it on the conductive side.

The sheath itself was created so that the swords rested in the small of his back, just above his waistline. According to Gen, this design was ingenius in that it bridged the gap between formal back-mounted swords and the more common side-mounted swords. The sheath was perfectly crafted to allow easy access to the sword – which was a problem with back mounts – and yet prevent them from sticking out and being in the way, which was a common issue associated with hip mounts.

The blades were stored side by side in the sheath, in a cross pattern. They were stored with the sharper edge facing upwards, so that he would be able to unsheathe them quickly and even work in an Iaido attack when his kenjutsu skill increased. In order to keep them from falling out when sheathed, a little lock had been added to the hilt of each sword, preventing them from being removed until they were twisted out of place. It was a similar mechanism to those used in medication bottles to keep young children from gaining access.

Hinata soaked in Naruto's explanation as she ate, and watched with awe as the boy pulled out the second sword, fitting the rings on the end of each hilt together. When this was done he took out a small object, which looked kind of like a kunai with no blade.

"Gen made this handle thing for me." The boy stated as he put the end of it into the affixed rings. It clicked into place, supporting both of the swords on a bearing and allowing them to spin, much like the blades of a fuuma shuriken. "It turns my swords into a shuriken, see?"

He held the handle above his head and spun the blades. They didn't spin particularly fast, but it was clear that they could certainly be used in conjunction with other jutsu to create a devastating long-range attack.

"That's really c-cool!" The Hyuuga exclaimed, her mind full of ideas that could be used with such a weapon.

"And that's not all they can do." Naruto continued as he separated the swords once more. "There's a hole here, look, on the end of the hilts."

The holes mentioned were small, circular indents that were made to perfectly match the ring on the hilt of the other sword. When the swords were placed together with the rings slotting into the hilt, and locked into place using a similar lock to the sheath, they formed a hard-wearing, long handle. This meant that the two separate swords were now fixed together, and could be used in a similar fashion to a double polearm.

"I can also use both sides of each sword for different purposes, so it's, like, six different weapons in one!"

Hinata, having finished her food by this point, stood up and pulled some senbon from a small pouch she kept at her hip. She had painted the ends of them in various colours, each representing a different type of senbon – White for normal ones, blue for chakra conductive. There were a few with green paint too, which held a weak paralytic poison that she'd created.

She grabbed a few blue ones and returned the rest to her pouch, but not before she explained their uses to an impressed Naruto.

"S-so I've been working on a jutsu with these c-conductive senbon." The Hyuuga mentioned as she walked over to one of the bulky logs that were stood against the wall. "I can't get it t-to work though."

"So what is the technique supposed to do?" The blond asked as he walked over to stand beside her.

"When I throw the s-senbon, my chakra should make it go straight through the log, n-not just hit it."

She threw a senbon to prove her point, and as expected it simply thudded into the wooden block. There were two thirds of the needle exposed, and while that was still an impressive feat for someone of their age, it was still not what they were looking for.

Naruto hummed thoughtfully. "Are you using elemental chakra?" He asked, receiving a puzzled look. "Oh… haven't you learned about elemental affinities yet? Iruka's been teaching me, now that I've improved my chakra control."

"I remember th-that one class about it, but apart from that…" The girl told him. "We don't really learn about anything other than c-clan techniques."

"Oh, well that might be your problem. Iruka told me you have to use your elemental affinity to create techniques… most of the time. Hey – do you want to come with me on Tuesday? You could learn about elemental affinities too!"

"S-sure, that sounds fun." Hinata smiled. "Now, it's your turn to try your sword!"

OoOoO

After two years of dutiful work at Niju Buki, Naruto's apprenticeship was drawing to a close. In his time working at the little shop, the boy had near-perfected his metalwork, so much so that he could create any weapon he desired with very few errors or do-overs.

Inspired by the bellows used to bolster the forge's fire, he'd also worked with Iruka to develop a new jutsu using his wind affinity – shokubai-fu. In its base form it was a set of chakra-formed bellows that would make a simple campfire hot enough to melt metal. The only preparation required was for a few large stones to be placed around the campfire before starting.

It was his last day working at Niju Buki, and Gen had decided to let him off early in favour of sharing a drink in his office.

"Well my boy, it's been a pleasure taking you on." The man exclaimed, his back turned as he poured out a drink. "You've worked twice as hard as any of my other apprentices – not to mention the drastic improvement I've seen in Tenten's skills since she started sparring with you."

The blond scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Aah, I've noticed too. Every time I think I've improved, it's like she's gotten ten times better too!"

"That's my girl for you."

Gen brought two cups to the table, each filled with sake. Naruto took a long swig from the cup, immediately regretting it as the liquid burned his throat.

"What- guh- what is that!?" He asked once he'd finally finished coughing. The man grinned mischievously at him, passing him the bottle.

"Genshu sake. It's about the strongest alcohol you can get in fire country."

The boy just looked at his cup for a moment before taking another swig. The second time around it barely affected him, particularly because he was expecting it to burn. Gen followed suit, sighing deeply at the sensation before looking back to his subordinate.

"From here on out, you put your work into that other hobby, you hear me?" he said sternly, receiving a nod. "When you graduate, be sure to let me know. I go to Tetsu no Kuni every now and then, to meet up with family and purchase some materials. I'll be personally requesting you for those missions."

"I'd love that." Naruto replied. "And speaking of hobbies, I wanted to show you something."

He pulled out a small wooden figure, setting it on the table. It depicted him and Tenten, locked in battle with one another. The weapons master looked it over incredulously, studying the pieces in awe; they just looked so realistic!"

"What kind of tools did you use to do so get such great details?" He asked.

The boy took out a very small sealing scroll, unfurling it on the desk and applying some chakra. Several miniscule tools popped into existence, small enough that the figurines beside them could have held them. Gen had to pull out a magnifying glass just to see them.

"How on earth were you able to handle these!?"

"Well, it started when…"

[flashback]

_Naruto sat cross-legged on his bedroom floor, surrounded by little wood shavings. In his hands was a knife that he'd forged, specifically designed to aid him in carving, and a small piece of wood that didn't yet have any discernible shape._

_Without lifting his eyes from the work he was doing, the blond summoned a clone, subconsciously commanding it to henge into the shape of a wolf and assume a certain pose. Moments later he looked up, intending to use the wolf-clone as a reference for what he was carving – but it wasn't there! He cast a confused glance around the room, knowing full well that the clone hadn't been dispelled as he hadn't received any memories. It wasn't until he heard a tiny howl that he looked down, spotting a miniscule wolf posing in front of him._

_It suddenly dawned on the boy that he'd not been very specific with his command as he'd summoned a clone, and as a result had accidentally told it to henge as a wolf that was similar sized to the figure he was working on. His eyes widened considerably as an idea formed in his mind. How had he not thought of that before?_

_Naruto placed the wood he'd been carving onto the floor, then used henge to transform into a tiny version of himself and approached it. At this size, the wood before him was around his height. He pulled out a kunai, which had also been made tiny, and tried using it to carve into the wood. The jolting movement only served to disrupt his henge, promptly returning the blond to his normal size. The unfortunate wolf-clone was squashed underfoot as this happened._

_It seemed like he would have to improvise._

_OoOoO_

_The next day, Naruto collected together some materials and set to work creating a tiny blacksmith's forge, using henge to do so. He fashioned a miniature makeshift hammer out of a tiny wooden splinter and vaguely hammer-shaped pebble, using it in conjunction with some scrap metal and a sewing needle to forge himself a few new, stronger hammers. Once that was done, he assigned several clones to keep the mini forge running, and over the next few hours they worked diligently to craft multiple tools specifically for wood carving._

_It had been a difficult process at first, using subpar equipment and minimal resources, but in the end his clones had gotten by and completed their task._

[flashback end]

"Once I had these tools I started doing my carving work with henge, so that I could do it in more detail." The blond finished. "It took me weeks to get the detail looking that good though."

Gen sat for a while in quiet contemplation as he thought about what he'd just been told.

"I suppose, in theory, a plan like that would definitely work." He eventually mused. "But when you factor in the amount of chakra it would deplete keeping up such a form…"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, breaking his thoughtful daze.

"You should have learned about this in the academy." The man replied, receiving a shake of the head. "When you perform the henge, you're essentially changing your physical properties by altering your chakra flow. That's why people commonly use transformation techniques such as henge to look like other people."

"Okay, I know that part."

"But to use such techniques, a 'continuous' chakra depletion occurs rather than a single depletion. Do you understand that?"

"I do. It's where some techniques, like shunshin, only require one burst of chakra but some, like shokubai-fu needs a constant supply of chakra to work."

"Exactly. The amount of continuous chakra it requires depends on how big the change is. So if I transformed into someone of a similar build and facial structure to myself, it would cost a lot less chakra than if I were to transform into, say, a mouse.

"Most of the time, the chakra cost for anything smaller or larger than a human is so expensive that it's not really considered to be 'worth it'. Not to mention the fact that anyone of a higher rank than chuunin can see through it. It's rare that people are able to handle the chakra cost for such a large difference.

"So to answer your question, what I meant is that a miniature forge like the one you've created is, in theory, a very valid idea. It could work. But in reality there are very few people who would be able to use it for any amount of time due to the huge cost of chakra. Even _I_ probably wouldn't be able to use it for more than maybe twenty minutes at a time. I'm honestly really intrigued to see just how much chakra you have, if you can keep that up for hours at a time."

"Heh, Iruka said I have a lot of chakra too." Naruto replied. "Well anyway, that's for you. I thought you could add it to your collection."

Gen thanked him, placing it beside the rest of the wooden figurines that he'd carved over the years. Once he returned to his desk, he grabbed the sake bottle and topped up their cups, raising his own to the air.

"Let's toast." He said. "To you, Naru. To the metalwork prodigy that you are."

"Thanks, Gensei." Naruto replied once they'd drained their cups.

"I'm no sensei of yours, my boy; you've learned everything I can teach you now. You're no more a student than I am."

The weapons master stood up, extending a palm to the blond.

"From now on, the forge is free for you to use whenever you need it. Oh- and Tenten asked me to make sure that you'd still come back to spar with her every now and then, so don't let me down.

"You've been a wonderful help here in the shop."

OoOoO

**An extract from Iruka's journal**

The date

_It took two weeks before Koyaku and I could go on a date, thanks to us having such busy jobs. In hindsight, it was probably for the best – the waiting just made our meeting that much more enjoyable._

_I'll never forget how she looked when she entered that café. She'd swapped out her usual hospital slacks for a beautiful sapphire blue dress, which seemed to contrast perfectly with her honey-coloured eyes. Her light auburn hair, which had been removed from its messy bun, flowed down to just past her shoulder blades in simple, natural curls. And her smile… it was gorgeous. Her happiness was contagious; filling me to the brim with a warmth unlike anything I'd felt before._

_When she hugged me lightly by way of greeting, it sent shocks through my body. I could feel myself going red, everything I'd planned to say flying right out of my brain._

_I knew at that moment I had fallen completely in love with her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gensei – Naruto's retaliation to Gen's use of "Naru" as a nickname. It's "Gen-sensei" but shortened.
> 
> Nikkeihi pan-ya– a play on words. A combination of "Nikkei", meaning cinnamon, and "Keihi", meaning… also cinnamon. "Pan-ya" means bakery - thus the store where Naruto bought the cinnamon rolls is called "CinnamonCinnamon bakery" :3
> 
> Iaido – The act of quickly unsheathing a sword, and attacking in the same movement.
> 
> Shokubai-fu – Catalytic breeze. Wind chakra is spiralled around a campfire, helping to increase its temperature. The stone around the edges is required to keep the wind in the correct shape.
> 
> Genshu sake – Undiluted sake. Typically has a higher volume than regular sake.


	15. Timeskip 3: Iruka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto recaps his training with Iruka and plays a lot of games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of the amount of time it’s been taking to get new chapters out, I’ve made the considerably risky decision to morph the three training chapters in to one. I’ve done this because generalised training sessions are boring and monotonous in nature, and I’m going to assume they’re as annoying to read as they are to write.  
> Because of this, instead of detailing lots of different sessions, I’m going to- actually, if I say any more I’ll be spoiling; I’ll just let you see it for yourself.  
> I’ve been rather secretive about Naruto’s clothing up until this point. For that I apologise, but unlike with Koyaku, this was very much planned. You’ll see why later.  
> I’m sorry if there are parts of this chapter that seem rushed or badly written. For some reason or another, this specific one has been super hard to write (Meaning five or six cases of writers block throughout), and I’ve had to sink so many hours into it.  
> I’ve rushed places because I’ve struggled to write them and sometimes given up on my “formality filter” because of this. I promise you that this sort of thing won’t happen again as far as I can help it.

** Timeskip 3 – Iruka **

The street was still, deathly quiet even as a gentle breeze cooled the air. Even at this late hour Konoha was well-lit; multitudes of streetlamps casting pools of golden light onto the ground. A shadow moved underneath one such lamp, revealing a small black cat darting across the cobbles. It disappeared into an alleyway, its blue collar glinting in the light, and the air was still once more.

Not a moment later, a near-inaudible yowl broke the silence, immediately followed by a gentle ‘poof’.

A figure stepped from the alleyway, dressed all in black. A glance to the right, one to the left. A gentle tilt of the head. The figure perked up, head snapping upwards as it received new information.

It crouched down, pinpointing the location it was given…

_And lunged._

OoOoO

A similarly dressed figure stood atop a building, scanning the horizon. Glowing crimson eyes narrowed as the news reached him, and he hummed behind the red bandana that covered the lower half of his face.

“Great work, Aka.” He muttered. “let’s tell Kancho the good news.”

OoOoO

“Come on Naruto, it’s time to get- “

Iruka opened his bedroom door, only to see him sat cross-legged on his bed, copying from a book.

“My apologies, I thought you were still asleep.”

“It’s all good.” He replied. “I’ll be done in a few minutes anyway.”

“Can I ask what you’re working on?”

“Eh, it’s just a hobby really. I’ll show you when I actually make some progress.”

“Well then, make sure you’re ready soon. We’re starting your advanced training today, and I want to recap before we move on.” 

It had been a few months since Naruto had begun his sessions with Ibiki and his apprenticeship with Gen, and in that time he’d made a decent amount of progress – his chakra control had greatly improved, as had his kenjutsu, taijutsu, agility and shurikenjutsu. The implementation of Iruka’s Shinobi CS game meant that the boy was also able to take in what was being taught, and little by little he’d been learning to speak in CS too. 

Naruto grinned and put his book away, leaning back on the bed and stretching until he felt his spine pop. Sitting still was never his forte, but when it came to his new hobby, he just couldn’t help himself. Who knew something so complicated could be so easy to learn?

“Wear your full outfit for today, by the way.” Iruka called from the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, Naruto stood before a mirror, looking over his outfit. He’d only worn the whole set a couple of times before, and he still had to take a few moments to admire it.

On a normal day the boy would wear a bright orange compression shirt, black cargo pants and the black hoodie with orange lining that Iruka had bought him as a placeholder. He considered this to be his ‘casual wear’, in that he generally wore it like this when he was going about his normal day.

The extra clothing was intended for when he was training or doing work that would require them.

His ‘full outfit’ consisted of the same shirt and pants, but instead of the black hoodie he was sporting a black tactical gilet and a knee length, hooded overcoat in a burnt orange colour. The overcoat had a black fabric tie at the waist which he used to keep it from flapping around. His sandals were still the same open-toed design as before, however this time they were black, about an inch of the front of the sole had been turned into steel toecaps. The caps were covered with the same material as the rest of the sandal though, so to anyone else they just seemed like regular sandals.

…Until you got kicked in the face with them, naturally.

Naruto used the numerous pockets littering his gilet to stock his tools, ensuring that he had everything he needed. He also grabbed a canteen that Iruka had gifted him, filling it up and putting it in its place.

His scabbard, which had been recently finished, was belted on to his waist. When he wasn’t wearing his swords they were mounted on his wall, set up so that they could easily be removed should he need to use them in a hurry. The handle that was used for the swords’ ‘shuriken mode’ was tucked away in one of his gilet pockets.

The blond took the blades from their mount, studying them happily. There were no runes on the blade yet, but he’d already planned out which ones he wanted for each one. It was just a matter of obtaining them first- the ones he'd so far come across were just... Well, he couldn’t explain it really. They just didn’t feel right.

“I’m making Okayu for breakfast!” Iruka called, breaking him from his reverie. He shook his head, smiling slightly, before clicking his swords into place and heading through to his sensei.

OoOoO

Less than an hour later, the pair were situated in the forested training area near the academy, which was commonly used for teamwork games. It was a field that Naruto knew well, having competed in multiple physical tests with his classmates over the years at this very location.

“You still haven’t told me what we’re doing here.” He grumbled as his sensei set down a bag. Every time he’d asked the chuunin, he’d replied with a knowing smile and left it at that.

“All in good time, Naruto.” Iruka told him. “We’re recapping first, remember?”

A “Recap” was something that the blond had come to both love and hate. It was like a “pop quiz” of what they’d learned, and if he got anything wrong they’d spend half an hour or so re-learning it. But as much as he hated it, he was still happy when a recap came around as it meant that they would be starting a new topic.

“Your first lessons were about chakra control. You learned leaf-sticking, tree- and water-walking, and you’ve been independently training your chakra control with Ibiki and the Kyuubi. I want you to sum up my explanation as to how those activities benefit you.”

“Eh, you need a really specific amount of chakra or you fail, so you learn to control your chakra well enough so that doesn’t happen.”

“And what is that useful for?”

“So you can learn and use different ninjutsu.”

“Correct. Now demonstrate each of the three chakra control techniques.”

Not really bothered about doing it for himself, Naruto summoned a clone. The clone ran up a tree with ease, jumping onto a branch and moving so that it was sticking to its underside. Grabbing a few leaves, it placed them on multiple different parts of its body and used chakra to keep them stuck.

Once Iruka nodded in assent, the clone unstuck itself from the branch and landed in a crouching position, keeping the leaves stuck. It then jogged over to a nearby river, hopping onto it with ease and standing atop the water

“That’s fine. Well done.” The chuunin commended. “We next moved on to elemental training. Hinata joined us for that exercise…”

[Flashback]

“Koyaku will be joining us for the session today.” Iruka called through the door. “She didn’t really take much time to learn elemental training as she was focused on her iryo-ninjutsu training, so she’s tagging along to learn.”

“Hinata’s coming too, remember. Have you got enough of the paper stuff you were talking about?”

“Yeah, I have a whole book full of the stuff. Thought I might see if I could teach the class about it some time.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to help Hinata with her senbon techniques?”

“Well, I don’t see why not.” The teacher replied. “Though it really depends on what her element is.”

[One hour later]

Naruto and Hinata stood side by side, listening intently to Iruka's explanation. Having already been taught the basics of elemental training, Koyaku busied herself with unpacking the few items they’d brought with them instead; though she was still paying attention as she did so.

“This paper was made from trees which were constantly fed chakra as they grew. Because of this unique property, these chakra papers will react to your chakra in different ways, with each reaction signifying a different element.”

To show them an example of this effect, he took out one such piece of paper and channelled some chakra into it.

The effect was immediate, as the paper suddenly burst into flame before suddenly extinguishing itself.

“As you can see, my primary element is fire, which is why it set itself alight.” Iruka continued. “However, if you look at the paper, you will see that it is slightly damp to touch. This signifies water, which is my second element.”

“But I thought you could only have one element.” Naruto interjected.

“That is true, to begin with at least. When your chakra control abilities grow stronger, it’s possible for a second, or even third element to present itself to the user during this test. Your secondary element will not be quite as strong as your primary one, but with practice, you can master it all the same.”

Koyaku, now finished with what she had been doing, decided to add some information of her own to the lecture.

“There are some very rare cases where a person has a very high proficiency for two or more elements. When this happens, a kekkei genkai or kekkei touta may present itself, which is essentially a mixture of two or three elements to create a different one.”

“So... it’s like if you mix red paint with blue paint and it makes purple?”

“Exactly.”

With the explanation now complete, Iruka passed everyone a slip of chakra paper.

“Now I’d like you to do this one-by-one, so that we can see each other’s elements properly.” He continued. “Koyaku, since you have the most experience you can go first.”

The nurse nodded, before raising her hand and channelling chakra to the paper. It immediately began to crumble, falling to the ground in many dusty pieces.

“That is the earth element.” Iruka stated. “known for its supportive nature and strong, destructive abilities, it is strong against water and weak against lightning.”

He motioned to Hinata, who blushed before stepping forwards and applying chakra to her own paper. It burst into flames, much like Iruka’s paper, but it didn’t extinguish itself.

The chuunin frowned slightly – an expression which was also creeping onto the Hyuuga’s face.

“You noticed it too, Hinata?” He asked, receiving a nod. He passed her another piece of paper. “Let’s try it again. This time activate your byakugan, and use a little more chakra.”

She obliged, and just as before the paper was set alight. But this time her doujutsu spotted the way her chakra also raced across it in a specific pattern.

“I-is that…?”

“Yes, that was your second element revealing itself.” Iruka explained. “It’s difficult to notice because of the fire affecting it, but your paper crumpled up. Your nature is fire, and your secondary is lightning – though your secondary element is almost as strong as your primary!”

“You already have two elements? That’s so cool!” Naruto exclaimed. The Hyuuga immediately turned bright red, earning an amused smile from Koyaku.

“Fire is the element of warmth and light. It’s known for being wild and difficult to control, and is strong against wind but weak against water.” The teacher continued. “Lightning is known for its speed and sheer power. It’s strong against earth, weak against wind.”

Naruto was up next. His paper split cleanly in half, one piece floating to the ground as the other remained in the boy’s grasp.

“Your element is wind, known for being sharp and unpredictable. It’s a rare primary element within Hi no Kuni, and if I recall correctly there is currently only one known wind user in Konoha. It’s strong against lightning and weak against fire, though it can be used to greatly strengthen a fire user’s techniques.”

The boy grinned at this. Both Iruka and Hinata were fire users, so he would be able to make them stronger using his element!

Before Naruto could speak further, an idea struck him. Looking at the piece of severed chakra paper he still held, he began to separate a small amount of the Kyuubi’s chakra from the steady flow he now had constantly making its way through his system.

As her byakugan was still activated, Hinata noticed the separation of chakra, and watched with interest as the boy applied the Kyuubi’s chakra to the paper.

At first nothing happened, despite it clearly being saturated by chakra. But then, slowly but surely, it began to turn green.

No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t _turning_ green – There was some kind of green substance _growing_ on it. Mould, perhaps? It was an unexpected response, in any case, and it had captured the attention of all three onlookers.

“I… I’ve never seen this before.” Iruka mumbled, glancing to Koyaku. She shook her head, answering the silent question he sent her way.

“Do you think Nekodori would know anything about this?” She whispered to the chuunin. “Maybe his chakra had the same effect?”

“It’s something to think about in any case.” He replied. “Naruto, if I could guess, I would say that you’ve just used natural chakra. I don’t know a lot about it though. For now I’d like you not to mess with it, please. Not until you can find someone who knows about it. ”

“Okay, got it. So now we know our elements, what do we do now?”

[End Flashback]

“In order to train our element we had to practice using a leaf. We held the leaf between our hands and used a similar technique to leaf sticking until it had the right effect – so until mine was cut in half, Hinata’s set on fire and Obasan’s crumbled.”

Iruka was impressed with Naruto’s brief explanation. It had been one of their learning subjects over the following months, so he’d been expecting it, but nonetheless it was great to see an improvement.

“Okay, next topic.” He continued. “We’ve more or less mastered the use of field communication, including body language changes, facial expressions and Shinobi Communication Signs. Throughout our conversation I used the former two techniques to convey a message to you. Did you read it?”

The ability to convey messages during a “normal” conversation was insanely useful in the ANBU – and in fact in any shinobi workplace. It was a highly advanced language and Iruka honestly wasn’t sure how much information he’d been able to drum into the boy.

“You crossed your arms when we were talking about how chakra paper works, which is unusual for your normal stance.” Naruto began, head cocked to one side. “Your eyes flickered over my left shoulder a few times too – more directly than your normal scan.”

That was right.

“Anything else?”

“Well since you seemed distracted I tried extending my chakra that way. I caught a glimpse of someone, most likely an ANBU, but he moved out of range before I could identify him.”

The former ANBU chose to relay his next message in sign, in an effort to test the blond’s CS knowledge.

 _Good, nine, mark, ten, visual, maintain._ He signed. _Understand, sign, respond, describe, sensor, exercise._

“ _Good work, nine out of ten marks. You needed to maintain a visual on the target. If you understand, respond in sign and describe the sensory exercise we did.”_

Naruto was happy that he could understand the signs, and wasted no time in formulating a response.

 _“I understand, loud and clear”._ He signed, then begun to giggle as he realised what he’d just said. “ _I mean, understood silently. I extended my chakra in one direction and used it to visualise a target. Then we sparred and I was blindfolded so I had to sense you. By the way… The ANBU is south east, reading this conversation.”_

The ANBU in question stiffened as he realised he was caught, but made no attempt to move from his position. A smile was hidden behind the mask he wore as he continued to watch the blond.

“Okay, you’ve definitely passed this pop quiz today.” Iruka stated, now speaking out loud. “It’s good to see that your training is paying off. Your grades are still pretty low, but they’re definitely better than what they used to be.”

The boy grinned but made no effort to speak as his sensei continued, removing a storage scroll from his chuunin vest.

“Today we’re going to try something new.” He explained, unsealing the scroll. Several strips of fabric appeared, coloured in red white and blue. “I need thirty clones please. Each one should take one of these and arrange themselves into three groups – one for each colour.”

Naruto obliged, watching intrigued as his clones separated into three groups of ten.

“All of you put on your bands in any way you wish to – as headbands, armbands, leg bands or even as belts. If the number listed on your band is one, you are now the leader.” Iruka told the clones. “Blue and red leaders, step forwards.”

The assigned clones did as they were told, facing one another. The sensei ordered them to play janken, from which the red leader emerged victorious.

“Red team, now you must decide… Will you be the hunters, or the hunted?”

At least half of the reds immediately shouted “Hunters!”, but after giving it some more thought, they realised that their best option was to choose the ‘hunted’ team.

Iruka lined the teams up in number order, as if they were a battalion of ANBU soldiers preparing for a mission.

“Red team, on my mark you will head into the forest and use whatever methods you can to hide yourselves. You must stay inside the designated area and ensure that your bands are accessible at all times. You will be given ten minutes to plan your strategy, then ten minutes to hide.

“Blue team, you will move into the forest two minutes after Red. Your mission is to find and defeat Red team and take their bands. You are allowed to hide yourselves in any way you see fit, so long as your bands are accessible and you remain within the designated area. But be careful – Red team is permitted to attack you as they see fit, and you are likewise permitted to attack them.

“White team, If you are attacked, you may retaliate until you or your attacker are defeated. You are not, however, permitted to attack without reason. Your job is to enter the forest alongside Red team and blend in. You are not to explicitly mention which team you are on. If any one of you are defeated by a member of teams Red or Blue, the game will be called off and restarted.

“You may hide your headbands through the use of henge or similar techniques, but they must be placed in clear view, so that they would easily be seen without the technique.”

Long-winded as it was, the explanation was easy enough to understand. Iruka had relayed the information as if he were an ANBU captain.

“This concludes your explanation. You now have ten minutes to strategize.”

As the teams scrambled to come up with a plan, Iruka took the real Naruto to one side. They both observed the chaos as they spoke.

“So, do you understand what this exercise is about?” He asked the boy.

“It’s a mission, isn’t it?” Came the reply, “An information-gathering mission.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well Red team is the enemy, and Blue team are chasing them down. Blue team is supposed to take the Red team’s bands, which I figured is information, while Red team is supposed to lie in wait and counterattack in order to protect their information and gather their own.”

“That’s correct. And what of the white team?”

This caused Naruto to pause for a second.

“Well since they’re peaceful unless they get attacked… and it’s bad if they die… are they supposed to be civilians?”

“Yes, that’s exactly right.” Iruka was mildly surprised by the boy’s intuition, and stated as much to him.

“Well, working around Ibiki and Anko-neechan teaches you to look at things from a different perspective.”

They quietened down for a while after that; simply watching the clones.

“Do you think they’ll notice the main issue with their planning?” The chuunin asked a couple of minutes later.

“To be honest, I don’t think _I’ve_ noticed an issue.” He replied sheepishly.

“Well tell me this, then. What happens when a clone is dispelled?”

“I get its memories.”

“And that means…”

“Oh. _Oh!_ So there’s no point planning because as soon as one of them pops, the rest of them are going to hear it!”

The more he thought about it, the more Naruto realised how useful this game would be. Through its use he would learn how to hide, how to search and how to distinguish his clones apart – then as soon as he got better at one thing, the rest of the clones would also be better and he’d have to improve even more!

“So when a clone pops, it’s like he’s been captured and interrogated for information, right?” He asked Iruka. “Don’t look at me like that, I know how important information is from my time working at T&I.”

“Speaking of which,” the chuunin replied. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that-“

“Well it’s going to have to wait, look. Ten minutes are up.”

And so they were. It was pretty surprising, really – Iruka wasn’t one to let the time fly. 

“Okay, Red and White team make your way into the area. Blue team, you have another two minutes to plan.”

The time passed quickly, and neither spoke to the other as they watched Blue team prepare. Just before Iruka could tell them to go, however, Naruto slapped a palm to his face.

“One of White team impaled itself on a tree.” He explained.

It was amusing to watch how Blue realised that their plan would not work. Even Iruka had to grin as they scrambled to make up a new plan, then realised yet again that it would still not work.

“Blue, it’s time to go.” Iruka called into the fray, only worsening the chaos until a strong voice called out from amidst the clones. It was the newly appointed team leader.

“Everybody, quiet! There could be Reds watching, ya know!” It yelled. “We follow the first plan, then when one of us are defeated we go our own way.”

The leader’s orders were clear and strong, and the Blues naturally obeyed. They immediately split up, each member heading into the forest in an organised search procedure.

Not long after, two clones emerged from the treeline, each sporting a red armband.

“Boss, sensei, can we henge as you please?” They asked.

Iruka saw no harm in this, particularly as he sensed an opportunity to speak to the boy while they were alone.

He nodded, urging Naruto towards a small swing that was out of the way of the forest. The boy immediately set himself down on the swing as Iruka leaned on the tree.

“So, as I was saying before, I’ve been meaning to ask you how you’re doing with Ibiki. Don’t you have problems, given your… past?”

The boy hesitated for a long while, considering his words. He studied a small tattoo on the inside of his wrist as he did.

“I… enjoy it. But, but not in a sadistic way. I mean I enjoy the challenge. The way I have to carefully structure what I say. I have to look at someone and understand what approach will get them to open up. It’s nice to know I’m bringing justice to people who deserve it too, I guess.”

“I understand.” The chuunin replied.

“I do struggle with it sometimes, though. Of course I do. Some of the things people confess to are… Well, Ibiki says I’m lucky. Apparently some people don’t care about the consequences, and confess willingly. They boast about it. Talk about how much they enjoy it.”

Iruka nodded. He knew full well about those sort of people, having dealt with several during his time in ANBU.

“Aah, but even if I do struggle, Inoichi told me that being exposed to these… triggers will help me get better in the future. I’ve been learning with Ibiki too, about how to switch my emotions off.”

“Just… don’t make a habit of it, okay?”

“Of course.”

They were silent for a while after that, with Iruka digesting what he’d been told.

Naruto was deep in thought, as a memory made its way to the surface of his mind.

[Flashback]

Naruto resisted the urge to groan as yet another prisoner was brought into the chamber. There had been an influx of new interrogations lately, resulting in more and more consecutive interrogations.

He wasn’t sure how many they’d spoken to today; he’d lost count at twenty.

Suppressing a sigh, he turned to the clipboard and pulled it towards him.

_Prisoner 8192. Crime: attempted murder._

_After being refused alcohol at a bar, the accused proceeded to follow a female patron to her home. The female patron was later found running from the accused, bearing several slash wounds._

_The accused was immediately detained, and a bloodstained knife was found on his person. It is alleged that the accused had intimate relations with the female patron prior to this incident, and when she refused him this time around he chose to take what he wanted by force._

His blood was boiling as he read the description. How dare this man take what didn’t belong to him!

Naruto put the clipboard down with a little more force than was necessary, and turned to the prisoner. He glared from behind his mask, unknowingly releasing a portion of killing intent as he did so.

Anko turned to him, her face serious as she took in his demeanour. It wasn’t uncommon for Naruto to lose his edge after taking part in continuous interrogations, but each time it happened he insisted that it was okay.

“I need to deal with these triggers.” He’d told her. “I know I can trust you to make me leave before I get too bad, so I want to keep doing this.”

It was clear to her that the boy needed a break, so she activated the communication seal that had been placed on his wrist.

To the untrained eye it was little more than a small diamond-shaped tattoo, but it was used to communicate silent messages between one another. Anko applied chakra to the tattoo, directing her attention towards Naruto, and tapped out a message.

 _Go to the staff room._ She told him. _Get some food, and then wait for me in private room one._

He nodded shakily, casting one more glare towards the prisoner before making his exit.

[Ten minutes later]

Sitting in a plastic chair, he hunched over, resting his head in his hands. He’d long since removed his mask and cloak – they were stifling in this room, which had been comfortably heated unlike the interrogation chambers.

He’d foregone the kitchen entirely, feeling much to queasy to even think about stomaching anything right now. No doubt Anko would bring a sandwich in when she came to check on him, though. She always did.

He made no effort to move as the door opened. Nor did he speak as Anko entered, quietly shutting and locking it behind her. His hands would not stop shaking, despite the breathing exercises that Inoichi had taught him.

He wanted to be alone. Gods, he just wanted to sit and cry, to let go of himself, even for a short while.

It was always the same during these moments. He would sit in silence, calming himself down as Anko sat beside him. Naruto supposed it was a comfort, knowing she was there keeping an eye on him.

“This isn’t you.” The woman stated, breaking him out of his reverie.

It was confusing. Anko didn’t normally speak to him during his… episodes.

“The cold, calculated interrogator that you are in the chambers; the happy-go-lucky attitude you use normally… that’s not you.”

Where was this coming from?

“You have to pretend that you’re okay, because it’s far too painful to explain how you’re really feeling. But it’s tiring, being someone you aren’t. It eats away at you. Everything you do becomes a chore, and sometimes even the most practiced movements can slip.”

It was all true, what she was saying.

“Why?” He muttered. “Why are you saying this?”

“Because we’re the same, you and me. Because I’ve been in the same position you’re sitting in right now. And when it was me sitting in that chair, trying my best not to show my weakness, it was Ibiki who helped me to get better.”

The statement was enough to push the boy over the edge, as tears began to trail down his cheeks.

“I don’t want to keep breaking down like this.” He wept. “I just want to get on with life. I just want to be _normal!_ ”

Strong arms wrapped around him as the woman stepped into an embrace. They remained like that for several minutes, until the boy was finally able to calm himself.

“Thank you, Anko.” He mumbled, wiping his eyes. “I guess I really needed to hear that.”

But she just shrugged, straightening out her trench coat.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re like my little bro, it’s the least I can do.” She answered.

A moment later Anko vanished, appearing behind Naruto and holding a kunai to his neck.

“Don’t get any ideas though.” She grinned sadistically. “As far as anyone else is concerned, you’re still just a maggot under my boot, got it?”

Naruto allowed a mischievous grin to appear on his face. “Of course, Anko- _neechan_.” He teased.

Being chased around the T&I headquarters by several large snakes had been a small price to pay to see her shocked expression, that was for sure.

[End Flashback]

“…Are you listening, Naruto?” Iruka called, snapping his fingers in front of the boy’s face.

“A-aah, sorry Iruka. I kinda zoned out for a while.”

“Right. Anyway, I’ll ask you again – what’s the score so far?”

The blond paused for a moment, tallying up the clones’ memories that had made their way to him. A moment later he burst out laughing, prompting his rather confused sensei to ask what was going on.

“Blue won.” He answered with a grin. “But I wish you’d have seen the look on their faces when they realised where the last two were!”

OoOoO

A month later, Iruka had introduced a new concept to the game, which had been dubbed ‘Karyoshi’.

Instead of a small training ground, the game now took place within the entirety of the village, though the clones were not allowed to enter buildings. The White team was no longer formed as the civilians they were meant to emulate were now involved.

It was a risk on Iruka’s part, for sure. If Naruto were to mess up and attack a civilian, there’d be all hell to pay – which was why he’d spent a month drilling this fact into the boy through the use of White team.

His drilling had payed off in the end, as Naruto had adopted simple techniques to be absolutely certain that a target was indeed a clone – such as “accidentally” bumping into someone while running past, in an effort to disrupt any henge they might have activated. Sure, it got him into trouble sometimes, but it was still a useful trick, and it was better than potentially injuring a civilian.

But there was no time to consider the past right now. Naruto had a point to prove.

It was sunset right now, and the light was fading fast. That in itself wasn’t really a problem – there were less civilians around at night. But it did mean that the deadline was fast approaching. He would have to work hard to get his team to pull through.

He raised a hand to his ear, fiddling with the radio receiver that rested on it.

“Aka-one checking in. I’m in position.” He muttered, scanning the horizon from his vantage point.

“Message received. A member of Ao is approaching to your left. Should I engage?”

“Stand down, Aka-four. I’ll handle this.”

His well-honed senses wasted no time in picking up the target, which was creeping near to his location. No doubt they followed his hastily-covered tracks.

His hand moved to grip a kunai, taking care not to make any noise. He was laying face down right now, so he would be hard-pushed to get into a better position without alerting his enemy.

No matter. He only needed one hand to throw a kunai.

The target was now less than a meter away; scanning the horizon, just as he’d done not a minute before. His back was turned to the boy, providing ample opportunity to lodge a knife in his back.

But he knew this enemy. He knew how fast his reflexes were. Alerting him now would only result in him getting stabbed.

Naruto channelled some chakra into the kunai, lining up his target. It would be difficult to hit him from such an odd position, so the chakra would help him to keep it flying straight.

He took a breath, watching as the figure before him tensed. Three- no, make that four years of training had gone into this one moment. This one kill. If he messed it up, there was no telling what would happen.

A flicker of movement caught Naruto’s attention, causing him to smile. Aka-four had caught on to his plan and decided to lend him a hand.

As the target focused on Aka-four, the boy’s hand snapped forwards; perfectly timed so that he snatched the enemy’s ankle just as he was about to jump. He overbalanced, toppling over the edge of the roof they were on. 

As the target hit the ground, he vanished into a poof of smoke, leaving behind a single blue armband. Aka-four slunk into the shadows, leaving Naruto to grab the fabric and head to a new vantage point.

OoOoO

“Aka-six reporting: two enemies left. I have eyes on one.”

“Received, Aka-six.” Naruto replied, now situated on a different rooftop. “I see you. Go in for the kill.”

It was with a certain sense of amusement that he watched as the scene played out before him.

The enemy was in henge, posing as a cat. It was admittedly a good disguise – except Aka-six had watched them perform the transformation. The cat dashed across the street, disappearing into an alley, and that was the end of that.

“Target neutralised.” Aka-six stated.

A moment later, Aka-three was defeated – his dispulsion acting like a beacon, alerting everyone to his position.

“Aka-six, you know what to do.” Naruto stated, knowing that he was the closest unit to that location. There was no response through the radio… but that wasn’t needed. The blond could see the grin on his face.

It took less than a minute for Six to finish the job.

“Great work, Aka.” Naruto muttered, the grin evident in his voice. “Let’s tell Kancho the good news.”

Iruka had been cooking when the door opened, revealing an army of six clones, each wearing a red headband. In their hands were the blue headbands belonging to the clones they’d defeated, as well as the three red bands that their team had lost along the way.

Naruto stood at the front of this group, grinning widely.

“Well then, Iruka!” He exclaimed. “I told you I’d smash it!”

OoOoO

“Itadakimasu!” Naruto called, before tucking into the teriyaki salmon that Iruka had cooked. Even after - how long was it now? Four years? - Even after all that time, Iruka’s meals were always delicious.

_‘They say a homecooked meal always tasted the best.’_

The thought was enough to give the boy pause for a moment, as he realised the implications of such a statement. He didn’t know when, but “Iruka’s house” had somehow morphed into “home”. He supposed it made sense really, after being here for so long, but-

“Naruto?”

The voice brought him out of his reverie, and he turned to look at his sensei with a sheepish smile. Just how long had he been staring at his plate?

“Aah, sorry. I was just thinking about how good this food was.”

It wasn’t a total lie, and the chuunin seemed to take it as an acceptable answer.

“I spoke to the hokage this morning.” He mentioned.

“You did? What did the old man want with you?”

“I went to him myself, actually. We were discussing whether or not you were ready for the next ANBU entrance exams.”

A rush of excitement ran through Naruto, but he quickly quashed it.

“S-so, did you come to a decision?” He asked, unable to keep the hopeful quiver out of his voice.”

“We did.”

Iruka went back to his food, chewing slowly. It was almost as if he was trying to add suspense!

When he’d finally finished chewing, the chuunin leaned over his plate to stare intently at him.

“Do you truly believe that you are ready to take the exam?”

This had to be a trick question. Surely there was an answer he was supposed to give – a hidden clue that he’d missed, maybe. Surely his sensei wouldn’t be outright asking him that… right? It was already obvious what his answer would be, wasn’t it?

No, wait. It wasn’t obvious. Iruka was genuinely asking him for his own opinion. And now that he thought about it, there was a sense of fear mixed in with that excitement he was feeling earlier. Was he ready for the exam?

He thought for a while longer, but the answer didn’t change.

“No, I don’t think I’m ready.” He began. He didn’t miss the quickly hidden disappointment that flickered onto his sensei’s face. “But then again, I don’t think I’ll ever be a hundred percent ready. So I still want to enter as soon as I can. If I fail, then I’ll train harder and try again next time. That’s what I’ve been doing with everything else, ya know?”

The scarred man smiled, clearly happy with the answer he’d given.

“Well, in that case, you’d better prepare yourself.” He answered. “The next exam starts on October tenth.”

The boy’s chopsticks paused, having been about to grab a piece of salmon.

“Then… you mean…”

“Yep. We decided that if you agreed that you were ready, we would allow you to enter.”

There was no hiding the excitement that rushed through his body this time around – it was almost like an adrenaline rush, making his nerves tingle. A wide grin threatened to split Naruto’s face, seeming to light up the room.

It was finally going to happen – He was finally going to take the exam!

OoOoO

**_ Memoirs of the nine-tailed fox _ **

**Heritage**

For you humans, a brother or sister is somebody who is related to you through your parents, or by adoption. The same definition cannot be applied to the bijuu.

It is true that we all call the same man “father”; Hagoromo Otsutsuki. In that sense, our siblingship is alike to that of a human. But that is where the similarities end. We are individual entities, and yet we are one. Long ago, there existed only one bijuu: the Juubi.

The ten-tailed being was created when our father’s biological mother called it forth from a certain divine entity, the name and history of which I have no wish to divulge. This bijuu rampaged throughout the lands until our father, alongside his twin brother, defeated it and sealed it within himself.

Later inspired by one of his two biological sons, he separated the chakra of this bijuu into nine pieces, giving each a name and form. This is how we bijuu were born. He created a temple for each of us, so that we may reside in them in peace and harmony.

But such peace would not last. While his numerous powers and his celestial heritage served to prolong his life, he still inevitably grew old, became frail and powerless.

On his deathbed, our father chose his younger son as his successor. Angered by this decision, the older son sought revenge, and thus began a war that is still being fought today, and may well last for all eternity.

We became weapons of this war, the one which our father sought to prevent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name “Nekodori” was mentioned in chapter 6, and belongs to a female ANBU that previously moved to that role. The previous holder of the “Nekodori” title was Yamato. Koyaku has primarily known Yamato by this name, so she referred to him as such. The “Nekodori” title is based on his canon mask. Hope this clears up any confusion.  
> In case you haven’t already worked it out, Kancho is a codename that Iruka goes by. Its meaning will be revealed in the next chapter, as well as the codenames of a couple of other people.  
> ‘Karyoshi’ is a combination of ‘Ryōshi’, meaning Hunter, and 'Kari', meaning Hunted. Its technical translation is Hunter-Hunted.


	16. Shoot 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto discovers a plot and reveals a secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made my first attempt at a decent fight scene (twice) in this chapter. Please let me know what you thought about them.
> 
> I made a mistake in chapter six, when I stated that Kakashi had left ANBU around the time that Iruka joined. Going by canon, it would seem that Kakashi left when Naruto was 8, and if Iruka had left at that time then he wouldn't have been the boy's teacher. I have now changed that chapter to state that Iruka left ANBU around two and a half years before Kakashi did.

_There was no hiding the excitement that rushed through his body this time around – it was almost like an adrenaline rush, making his nerves tingle. A wide grin threatened to split Naruto's face, seeming to light up the room._

_It was finally going to happen – He was finally going to take the exam!_

Let's see, the tenth of October was… _a week away!?_

[The next day – During class]

Naruto failed to suppress a sigh as yet another glance was shot his way. Ever since his outburst, Ino had begun sending strange looks towards him every now and then. It seemed like a combination of pity and curiosity, and it irked him to no end.

Today had been no exception – in fact the looks had seemed to increased tenfold today, which didn't bode well with the boy.

It seemed that Iruka had noticed his discomfort too, given that he was silently asking him a question.

' _Are you okay?'_ He'd asked. Naruto just nodded his head a fraction, not really wanting to launch into any deeper conversation.

Instead he looked towards the worksheet he was supposed to be doing.

_Explain the three primary uses of chakra, and give an example of each._

Well this was easy enough. After all, he'd covered almost exactly the same question with Iruka yesterday.

_Chakra is a shinobi's life-force, similar to blood. If it is drained from the body, it can cause the body to grow weak, and can eventually lead to death._

There, that ought to do it for the first example. Then he just had to do the same sort of thing for improved agility and ninjutsu respectively.

Man, this was so _boring!_

Naruto could feel his mind wandering as he wrote, but given how simple these questions were, he didn't really mind. It wasn't long before he turned to one of his favourite subjects.

For four years the boy had been studying under three different teachers, which hadn't left him a lot of time for himself. He didn't mind though – when he wasn't with his teachers he was training himself anyway, so it wasn't like it would have made any difference.

His secret training, his hobby, had been going very well despite the fact that he was learning almost entirely from books and textbooks. Iruka had asked him on multiple occasions about what exactly he was doing, but as of yet he'd remained tight-lipped.

Oh, Iruka was talking again. Naruto supposed he ought to listen for now.

OoOoO

The boy let out a loud yawn as bell rang, pointedly ignoring the way Ino had fumbled around with her bag. He'd figured that she would stall for time to catch him on his own, so at least this time he already knew what he would say.

He locked eyes with his sensei, who had sensed the situation and taken his time packing up too. A shake of the head was all he needed to do to let the man know that he'd be okay.

"Do you need something?" He asked once the room had cleared, remaining as polite as he could. The girl nodded, turning to him.

"I spoke with Daddy yesterday." She began. "He told me about some stuff. Made me realise a few things. So I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry for pushing you. I won't talk about it again."

"Look, Ino. I never really apologised for shouting at you back then. I just don't want to talk- wait, what?" He was sure he'd misheard her.

"I said I'm sorry for pushing you. Daddy told me that sometimes it's more hurtful to talk to someone about these things, and that if you wanted to open up you would do it in your own time."

A warmth began to pool in the pit of his stomach as she said this. He'd worried quite a lot about how this conversation would turn out, and for it to go the way it did filled him with happiness.

The smile he bore must have been contagious, as Ino soon followed suit.

"And I'm sorry too, by the way." He eventually continued. "For shouting at you before. I'm really happy you understand."

In an impulsive movement, the boy extended his hand to his fellow blonde. She looked at it in shock for a moment, before shaking it.

"Daddy said you're not as bad as everyone seems to think." Ino mentioned as they walked towards the classroom door. "He said that I should decide what I think about you for myself."

"Well then, please pass him a hug from me, 'kay?" Naruto replied with a grin, before exiting the classroom. "See you tomorrow."

The two parted ways, each feeling significantly lighter from their conversation. It had been a weight that bore down on both of their shoulders for much longer than it should have, and it was great to finally clear the air.

The smile faded once his back was turned, but it didn't quite fall from his face as he walked down the corridor. At least, not until a quiet voice caught his attention.

For some reason his curiosity had been pulled in by this faded noise, and he found himself edging towards a classroom that should have been empty. Focusing some chakra towards his ears in order to enhance his hearing, the boy listened intently to the conversation.

The more he listened, the faster Naruto's heart began to beat. This was bad. _Really_ bad. He forced himself to calm down, thinking through what he'd heard.

There was no doubt about it. This was an emergency, and it would be down to him to fix it.

OoOoO

Naruto crashed through the doors of the hokage's office, followed by a thoroughly disgruntled secretary who was yelling something about a meeting.

There was a silver-haired man stood before the hokage, wearing a chuunin jacket. His back was turned, so he couldn't immediately recognise him.

"Old man, I need- gurk!" He tried to yell, only for the man to appear behind him.

Within the space of a second, Naruto found himself on his knees, with both arms held behind his back. The tip of a kunai appeared in his vision, pointed directly at his throat.

"Relax, Kakashi." The sandaime commanded, clearly amused. "Naruto won't hurt anyone."

The boy could feel this man, Kakashi, nod as he put the kunai away, but made no effort to release him. There was something about this guy… something familiar, somehow.

An idea struck him suddenly, and he channelled some chakra to the tattoo on his wrist. Giving a silent thanks to Anko for teaching him how to use it, he directed his concentration towards the man behind him and tapped out a message.

' _You smell familiar.'_ It said.

A mischievous grin fixed itself to his face as he felt Kakashi stiffen slightly. It would seem that his suspicions were correct – this guy had an ANBU tattoo. But the smile dropped as he remembered why he was here.

"Old man, something big's about to happen." He began. There was something about the seriousness in the boy's voice that immediately put the two men on edge.

He was suddenly lifted to his feet by Kakashi, and turned around to get a good look at him. He recalled seeing Kakashi before, with his mask and his slanted hitai-ate, but he couldn't be sure where. The bored look he usually had was gone though, as he stood straight and still, a mixture of seriousness and intrigue showing in his one visible eye.

"Explain."

This came from the old man, who'd all but forgotten about the trademark pipe hanging from his lips. Naruto turned back to him, nearly sending himself dizzy from all the movement.

"There's no time, hokage-sama." He urged, choosing the formal response. "Can you trust me on this?."

The hokage hesitated for a moment, considering the request. He knew full well the amount of progress that the boy had made lately, but the urgency in his voice suggested that this wasn't any ordinary incident.

"Alright, I'll go with you on this. What do you need me to do?"

Naruto glanced at a watch on his wrist, gauging the time he had left.

"In twenty minutes, somebody is going to steal the scroll of seals."

"What!? How do you know this? And more importantly, who would be so _stupid_ as to-"

"It's your grandson." Naruto muttered gravely. "Konohamaru's going to steal it."

He could see that both Kakashi and the hokage were about to interject, so he raised his hand to prevent them from doing so.

"Don't worry, he isn't doing this of his own accord." He continued. "That's why I want to plant a fake version of the scroll of seals, so I can show you some proof."

He could easily have attacked there and then, as soon as he'd heard the conversation in the first place. But Iruka had taught him never to make big decisions without evidence to back them up, and that little nugget of information had stuck with him for a long time.

"And you're sure that it's going to happen?" Kakashi asked.

"Positive. I heard them talking. I'm going to tail Konohamaru in case he's attacked at any point. He's meeting up with Mizuki in the training field behind the academy though, so it's best if someone goes there to meet up. Don't attack though please – I want to do this myself if I can. I've been training for this."

He glanced at Kakashi, who nodded.

"I'll go there now." He said in response to Naruto's silent question.

"I'll keep in contact." The boy replied, lifting his sleeve to show the man his tattoo. Kakashi nodded once more, tapping his left shoulder almost subconsciously, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Once the man had left, Hiruzen stood up and took Naruto by the arm.

"We're going by shunshin." He stated simply, before they too disappeared.

OoOoO

"So how are you planning on cloning the scroll?" The hokage asked as they stood before the display. It wasn't very well guarded, but there had never been any issue since there were so many guards on the entrance to the hokage residence. Only the hokage himself and people with his permission were allowed inside, so it wasn't like it was easy to get in.

In Konohamaru's case, however, it would be a piece of cake. The guards knew him by name, and given that he was the hokage's grandson, he had a room of his own within the mansion. All he'd have to do is walk straight in, break the lock and be on his way.

"You said it yourself. I'm going to use a clone. I've been working on improving the way my shadow clones work, you see. When I make a specific type of clone it can take several hits before dispelling."

"I'll take your word for it. Let's go."

"I'm going to need to look at some of the writing on there." Naruto stated. "I need to make sure that the henge is believable, just in case Mizuki tries to check it."

That was the second time Naruto had mentioned Mizuki. But that man was kind and generous, was he not? Surely he wouldn't be the sort of person to form a plan like this?

Ah, but that was besides the point. Now the sandaime was faced with a dilemma – either he could allow the boy to read some of the forbidden jutsu on the scroll, to make a believable clone, or he could refuse and risk his grandson being put in more danger should Mizuki make the connection.

Then again, the first kinjutsu listed in the scroll was the kage bunshin, was it not? Naruto already knew that jutsu, so it would stand to reason that he could just allow him to read the first one and leave it at that. Not to mention the fact that Mizuki could well seriously injure himself if he were to try that technique, potentially doing the ANBU's job for them.

Yes, it would surely be okay.

"Naruto, this scroll is full of very dangerous techniques. I don't want them falling into the wrong hands."

"I understand, but I still-" He was cut off by the hokage, who hadn't finished speaking.

"Nonetheless, the first jutsu listed is one that you already know. Your sensei almost lost his job teaching it to you."

This was news to Naruto. He'd had no idea that one of his ninjutsu techniques were actually kinjutsu, nor had he known that Iruka had nearly been fired! He'd have to ask about that later.

"Alright, then. I'll just read the first one."

The sandaime unlocked the display case with practiced ease, handing the contents to Naruto. The boy opened it just far enough to read the first technique a few times, then nodded and stood up. He boy created a clone, making sure that it was a high-level one, before instructing it to henge into an exact copy of the scroll.

"Since my clones also have the communication tattoo, I've instructed this one to relay information to Kakashi." He stated as he placed the replica back into the display. "You should probably get back to the office for now. The real scroll should be safe there."

Hiruzen paused for a moment longer, a tired look on his face. Naruto seemed to sense his hesitation, as he smiled widely.

"Don't be so worried, old man. I'm going to bring Konohamaru back in one piece, and that's a promise."

OoOoO

In the training field behind the academy, a silver-haired man crouched on a branch, watching for signs of his target from his leafy vantage point.

As he waited, he allowed himself to think back to his meeting with the hokage.

When the boy had burst into the room, he'd acted purely on instinct. All he'd seen was a potential threat to the hokage, and that was something he could never allow. He was back in ANBU mode, just for those few seconds.

And then the boy had activated his tattoo.

He knew who that kid was, of course. He'd caused quite a stir a few years ago when he'd vanished from his home, later turning up on the hokage monument. Being one of the hokage's elite guards at the time, Kakashi had been one of the few operatives dispatched to retrieve the boy. It had been one of his last assignments actually.

He'd been the one who made sure Iruka and Naruto both got to the hospital in time. He'd been the one to carry the boy when Iruka's fractured ribs had gotten the best of him. Come to think of it, Naruto had been drifting in and out of consciousness at that point. Could it be that he recognised Kakashi's scent from that time?

The concept certainly held some weight. It would have explained how the boy knew that he'd been in the ANBU too. Then again, if the boy had that tattoo then he must have joined the T&I department. Could it be that he recognised the signs of a seasoned ANBU just from one instinctual restraint?

His tattoo pulsed, pulling him from his thoughts. It would seem that Konohamaru was on the move.

OoOoO

Mizuki grinned an evil grin as he watched the ANBU flitting about on the rooftops. It would seem that word about the sealing scroll being stolen had already begun to cause quite a stir. Not that that mattered, though. It wasn't like anyone would expect the _honourable grandson_ to be the thief.

Ah, speaking of which, here he comes. The naïve Konohamaru had fulfilled his end of the bargain, as could be deduced from the large scroll the boy held.

"Mizuki-sensei, I've got it!" He called, skidding to a halt in front of him, nearly toppling himself over. The man easily caught the scroll, using it to push the boy back upright before pulling it out of his grasp.

' _This is clearly the real deal!'_ Mizuki thought to himself, peeling back the edge to check its contents. As expected, there was a jutsu listed there.

"So… I can graduate now, right?" Konohamaru asked tentatively. He really didn't like the evil smile on his sensei's face.

"Aah, yes. I promised you I'd make you a genin, didn't I?" The man closed the scroll, turning to give the boy his full attention. "But I didn't promise that I would make you a genin in Konoha."

A multitude of emotions crossed Konohamaru's face, starting with confusion and making its way up to fear when he realised how much trouble he was in.

"You've just stolen a very important item, after all." He continued. "If you go back now, you'll be thrown into jail!"

"No… No! I… you're lying!" The boy spluttered. He was shaking all over by this point.

"Am I? That scroll was locked away for a reason, after all!" Mizuki laughed; a deep, evil laugh. "Come with me and I can take you to a new village. You'll be a genin there – no, a chuunin! You can get big and strong there. Unless of course you want to stay, and go to jail?"

Tears began to well up in Konohamaru's eyes. Was he really in that much trouble?

"Actually, I think you'll find that Konohamaru will be hailed a hero when he returns to Konoha."

The voice came from behind Mizuki. As he turned around, a figure with a kitsune mask stepped from the treeline. ANBU? No, that wasn't an ANBU mask. Judging by their height and voice, surely they weren't even a teenager yet.

His eyes caught sight of a lock of golden hair from underneath the hooded overcoat the boy was wearing, and suddenly it made sense.

"Damn you, Uzumaki brat!" He yelled. "You're not going to stop me this time. I'll kill you and that stupid boy. I already have the scroll; I have no need to spare you."

The blond grinned, cocking his head to the side. He was wearing his battle outfit at the moment, figuring that this was exactly the sort of time for it. Since he never really knew when he might need to use them, Naruto had taken to storing the clothing in a sealing scroll for the sake of easy access. Today just happened to be one of those days.

"What scroll would that be?" He asked innocently. The scroll-clone took this as a signal, and promptly dispelled itself. "You see, when Konohamaru found out about your little plot, we decided to set up a trap. And you fell straight into it."

The younger boy was rather confused by what Naruto was saying, but he figured it was best to just play along for now.

"That precious scroll of yours was nothing but a clone!"

As the blond spoke, a clone appeared, positioned so that Mizuki could not see it, but Konohamaru could. The clone held up a hand, fingers splayed, and began to lower them one at a time. A countdown. Despite the state of shock he'd been in, it was clear that he was supposed to make a run for it when the count reached zero.

Mizuki growled, glancing at the treeline as though he was waiting for someone. But no response was offered, so he turned back to the boy. If he was as strong as his confidence suggested then he'd clearly have to go all out.

Before he could continue on that line of thought, both Naruto and Konohamaru burst into a flurry of movement, with the former leaping straight for him as the latter dashed off into the trees. With the younger boy gone, Naruto would no longer have to look out for him. Kakashi could take care of that, while he took care of this man.

His frontal attack had been little more than a distraction to prevent Mizuki from going for the weaker target, but nonetheless the hastily drawn kunai just barely missed his face as he was thrown to the ground.

Instead of falling face-first as the man had expected, Naruto managed to turn his momentum into a forward roll; launching several easily dodged shuriken at his enemy as he did so. But the teacher's dodging had put him in clear view of the clone that was still waiting in the trees, and he was forced to use the fuuma shuriken on his back to counter its sword slash.

Since when had this brat been able to use a sword?

Without sparing Mizuki a moment to catch his breath, both Naruto and his clone launched themselves at him. But this time around the movement was far too predictable, and soon enough he buried the tip of his shuriken into the clone's torso.

But Naruto grinned, and instead of attacking he kicked off of the man's back, launching himself backwards just as an explosion engulfed the clearing.

[flashback]

_Naruto suppressed a smile as he studied the scroll. It was clear that the old man had not wanted him to see any other kinjutsu techniques, but it would seem that he'd forgotten a key point._

" _The kage bunshin is a useful B-rank kinjutsu, and it is categorised as forbidden because of its excessive chakra costs. If one is able to master the use of this technique, they may be able to use an extension of it. This extension widens the range of uses that the kage bunshin offers. Its name is…"_

_[End flashback]_

"Bunshin Daibakuha!" Naruto shouted, as his clone's dispulsion caused it to self-destruct.

Mizuki's shuriken was blasted out of his hands, having taken the brunt of the force. But minor burns covered his left arm and a piece of shrapnel had embedded itself in his cheek, serving to do little more than enrage him.

"What's up _sensei?_ " Naruto mocked. "Can't even handle a fight against a mere pre-genin?"

Adding insult to injury only served to tip the man over the edge, and he let out a near-inhuman yell.

"You've done it now, little brat! I'm going to beat you to a pulp!"

Mizuki pulled out a phial, uncorking it and draining it in one before the boy could react. His muscles began to bulge, tearing his jacket into shreds and revealing dark, tiger-like shapes on his arms. His earlier wounds all healed up with a 'hiss' as foul chakra began to saturate the clearing, thoroughly unnerving Kakashi and absolutely terrifying the hokage's grandson beside him.

An ANBU operative appeared beside them a few moments later, and he quickly explained the situation.

"Bring Konohamaru to the hokage for now. I'll sort things out here."

" **You're going to pay for this!"** Mizuki bellowed as the blond's expression changed. It was clear to Kakashi what that change meant. Naruto was getting serious.

An unmistakeable rush of adrenaline coursed through the boy as the Kyuubi gave him some chakra.

' _I thought you didn't want to give me free power?'_ He asked the bijuu.

' _ **Unless it's for an entertaining cause. Just channel some chakra to your eyes so I can see your fight.'**_

' _Okay, got it.'_ Naruto replied, obliging the fox's request. His eyes glowed red as his vision cleared up, and he focused on the enraged man before him.

His enhanced senses picked up on Kakashi, who looked as though he was about to jump into the fight. Staring straight at him, Naruto shook his head. His crimson eyes were full of determination, and something else he couldn't quite place.

The muscle-bound Mizuki suddenly pounced at him, slashing with a kunai. His movements were slower now, clumsier. It was like this strange potion he'd consumed was bulking him up so far that he was struggling to control his power.

The kunai broke in half under Mizuki's strong grip, so he threw the pieces to the ground and resorted to wildly punching at Naruto instead. He darted around the punches, deftly jabbing at the man with a kunai of his own.

Each jab barely even made a mark on the bulked-up teacher, so he was forced to drop that attack pattern pretty quickly. Rapidly dodging yet another punch from Mizuki, Naruto leapt a few meters back, landing in a crouch.

What could he do? Physical attacks seemed to make no difference to the brute, so that was out. Unless…

Coming to a decision, the boy unsheathed one of his swords and stood up, falling into a simple defensive stance. Wind chakra began to flow across the blade, causing the sword to emit a low hum as he rushed at his target.

Naruto jabbed forwards, thrusting the sword with all his might at the man's chest. But he managed to block it with his left arm, the blade slicing right into it and sticking there. The boy was left wide open as Mizuki reared back, landing a brutal right hook directly to his chest.

He was flung backwards at the impact, crashing through several trees before finally coming to a stop. He was sure he'd heard a rib or two crack in that punch, but there was strangely no pain as the blond shakily stood up.

He'd landed on the edge of the treeline, the academy visible less than twenty meters behind him. There were several groups of students leaving the academy, having been kept back for detentions or extra-curricular activities.

He picked up the mask that had been jostled from his face as he fell, quickly donning it and pulling his hood back up before any of the students noticed he was there. He figured that at least this way he could keep his progress a secret… from the students, anyway. Hopefully Kakashi would keep quiet too.

Not a moment later, Mizuki crashed through the trees, seemingly using his arms to propel himself forwards. The commotion attracted the attention of most, if not all of the students nearby, and chaos ensued as they took in the sight of their sensei.

This was bad. Mizuki seemed to be building up his chakra, steeling himself for some large-scale attack. If he were to unleash anything here, so close to the academy, there would be innocent lives at stake. Naruto couldn't allow that to happen.

He could only see one solution to this problem.

"Aah, I'd hoped to keep this a secret for a while longer." He muttered to no one in particular. "But if it means stopping you, it's a small price to pay."

Four groups of two clones poofed into existence, surrounding Mizuki in a square shape. One clone in each group performed a snake seal before clapping their hands together, a fiery purple barrier shimmering into view. The man was effectively trapped. The clones remained inside of the barrier, but a second smaller barrier was formed around each pair in order to protect them from harm.

The four clones that weren't already busy each took a piece of paper from one of their many pockets. They were small, about the size of the boy's palm, but each one was packed with identical black markings similar to those found on explosive tags. Each clone slammed their paper onto the ground in perfect synchronisation, applying a hefty dose of chakra as they did. Black lines began to flow from the papers, connecting with one another around the perimeter of the barrier until a perfect square was made. From each corner of the square came more black lines, these ones snaking towards the center.

The lines began to glow a vibrant purple as they activated, freezing the man in place.

"Shishi Kyushu!" The eight clones shouted in unison.

Almost immediately after the black lines had begun to glow, Mizuki's bulging muscles began to shrink and shrivel. He let out another inhuman scream as he collapsed to his knees, the loss of his chakra taking its toll on his body. It took less than a minute for the man to go from musclebound brute to a frail old man, almost all of the life drained from him.

Naruto could feel the last of the Kyuubi's chakra drain from his system as his clones dispelled. Waves of pain from his ribs began to wash through him, but he forced himself to ignore it. The sword he'd buried within Mizuki's arm was now lying beside him, and the boy picked it up and slotted it into his sheath with ease.

Kakashi emerged from the treeline a short while later, regarding the blond with a calculating expression.

"Is Konohamaru okay?" Naruto asked. Kakashi simply nodded, watching as the tension fell from his shoulders. "That's… that's great." He mumbled, suddenly feeling very tired.

He began to sway as his head spun; mild chakra exhaustion from such a high-level sealing technique beginning to set in. But before he could fall, Kakashi darted forwards, easily catching the boy and swinging him onto his shoulders.

"Rest now, Naruto." He commanded. "You've done enough."

"Heheh, I'm glad…" Came the slurred response. "Hey, this is familiar."

Kakashi chose not to reply, not really having an answer to that. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, though – The boy had already fallen unconscious.

OoOoO

When Naruto had regained consciousness an hour after the incident, he found himself in his own bed. The earlier pain from his cracked ribs had already vanished, replaced with little more than a dull throb that he could easily ignore.

Almost immediately as he'd gotten out of bed, Iruka had ran into the room with a look of relief on his face.

"Naruto! Do you have any idea how worried I was when-" He began, but a knock at the door stopped him in his tracks. The boy suppressed a sigh of relief when he turned back around to answer, knowing that he'd just escaped a pretty lengthy lecture there.

"Hello again, senpai." Iruka greeted.

"Meh. I get enough of the "senpai this" and "senpai that" From Tenzo." The visitor stated. To Naruto it was immediately clear who this voice belonged to. "Anyway, the hokage has requested an audience with myself and young Naruto, to discuss the events that took place earlier. You're welcome to come along too."

Ah, the boy had been expecting this. After all, he'd turned up at the hokage's office uninvited, crashed a meeting and then told the old man that his own grandson was about to commit a terrible crime. Yeah, it wasn't much of a surprise that he'd have to answer some questions.

Naruto had already hopped out of bed and changed into his casualwear by the time Iruka made it to his room.

"I'm already ready, ya know." He grinned, walking past the scarred man and heading towards the door. "Heh, try saying that five times over."

When he caught sight of the familiar blue mask, the boy raised a hand in greeting. "Hey Kakashi-san. Long time no see!"

"It's barely been an hour." The jounin muttered, his eye narrowing slightly. He was secretly amused by the statement, but he figured it best to remain serious for now. "Shall we get going?"

OoOoO

"So… how long were you in?" Naruto asked suddenly, breaking the tense silence as they walked. He could see Iruka's brow beginning to furrow, but Kakashi seemed to understand.

"Ten years, give or take." The man replied. "I would probably have lasted for longer, were I not needed elsewhere. You?"

"Four years so far. I developed a new jutsu and Yamanaka-sama saw potential in it. I trained with Morino-sama for a few weeks to improve the jutsu and learn about my work in T&I, then I joined straight after." The blond replied. "But I'm technically only an apprentice. I'm taking the exam next week."

If Kakashi was impressed, he didn't show it.

"You know you were supposed to keep all this a secret right, Naruto?" Iruka asked when no response was given.

"I know, I know. But I couldn't help myself. It's a funny story actually-" The boy began, but he was cut off as he realised that they'd arrived.

The same secretary as before was sitting at the desk, though this time she seemed a little happier to see them.

"Aah, there you are. Go straight through, sandaime-sama is expecting you."

The old man was standing at the window when they entered, seemingly lost in thought. But as the three of them entered the room, he quickly turned around and sat down, likewise offering them a seat.

"I won't take too much of your time." He began, using a fire jutsu to light his pipe. "Since this little incident was not an official mission, I just need your verbal report. Kakashi, given your experience, I would like you to report first."

The masked man nodded curtly, clearing his throat.

"I was meeting with you regarding a particular mission I'd recently completed when Naruto burst through the door, followed by a disgruntled secretary." He stated. "Having not yet relaxed since the mission, I instinctively marked him as a threat, and I restrained him."

Naruto let out a sheepish grin at that.

"During this time, Naruto had somehow figured out my black ops past, and used his own communication tattoo to relay me a message. He stated that I… smelled familiar. I believe that this was a reference to a separate occasion where I was the one to carry him to the hospital. I must admit I'd been caught off-guard by that, as it had been almost five years since I had been contacted through my tattoo.

"Naruto stated that something bad was about to happen. His tone of voice caught our attention, so I released him and allowed him to speak. He stated that there was no time to explain the details, instead offering a brief explanation."

He looked to Naruto at this, seeming to figure that this was the best time for him to speak.

"I was walking down the corridor from class when I heard someone talking in an empty classroom. I don't know why, but something made me stay and listen. Mizuki and Konohamaru were there, and they were talking about how Konohamaru wanted to defeat the old man so that he could become hokage.

"Mizuki picked up on this and told Konohamaru that he could do a "secret task" that would let him graduate straight away. That teme told him that he could prove that he was ready to become a genin if he stole the scroll of seals and brought it to the training field behind the academy.

"When I heard this, I knew that it was a problem, but I couldn't just go in and attack him. He'd just call me out and say I was turning into the Kyuubi."

He lowered his voice as he said this, more out of habit by now than anything else.

"So I ran all the way here, and that's where Kakashi's story starts."

Hiruzen remained silent for a few moments as he absorbed the information.

"Konohamaru told me as much." He eventually stated.

They continued to describe the fight in a similar manner, each interjecting to add information that the other missed. By the time reached the end of their report, half an hour had passed.

"When I was thrown out of the forest, I realised that our fight had been brought far too close to the academy, and I knew that this fight had to be brought to a close quickly as there were some classmates in the area." Naruto continued. "My mask had fallen off during the flight, so I quickly put that back on to cover my identity."

He paused for a second, carefully thinking through his next words.

"When I realised that there were innocent lives in danger, I decided that I would use a technique that I've been secretly working on for the last few years." He stated, studying his sensei's expression from the corner of his eye. "I've been teaching myself fuuinjutsu with books and scrolls."

Iruka's exclamation of shock was quickly stifled as the hokage raised a hand.

"This was certainly unexpected." He muttered. "However, we will discuss this new revelation later. Continue with the report first, please."

"Okay. I used a combination jutsu I've been working on for a while now, where I combine the Shishienjin and a chakra sealing array, which I call Shishi Kyushu. Using eight clones, I was able to restrain him and seal away most of his chakra, which I think caused him to shrivel up like that."

Naruto's eyes closed for a moment, as if he was remembering the scene.

"That was the first time I used it on a real person, actually. I always practiced my fuuinjutsu on my clones, which was fine but they would always dispel with that technique. I guess because they're made mostly of chakra."

"I take it that's the end of the report?" Hiruzen asked.

"Well, I guess so. I kinda passed out after that, so I only know that Kakashi caught me and he told me that Konohamaru was safe."

"That's all the information I need. Kakashi, you're free to go if you wish to."

The silver haired man nodded, glancing towards Naruto one last time before he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Now then Naruto. Do you know about the universal sealing grades?"

The boy looked back at the hokage with a thoughtful look on his face.

"That's the ten-point guide to show how strong fuuinjutsu users are, right?" He asked.

"Yes, exactly. It's used as a general guide for professionals to understand how much ability somebody has. Nowadays though, sealing masters are few and far between. I think the highest graded shinobi that we know of is grade eight."

The old man was refilling his pipe as he spoke, having smoked what was already in there during their conversation.

"Well Naruto, I would like to determine your sealing grade. Are you open to a sealing test on the tenth of October?"

"But the exams are on the tenth." The boy replied. "And I already know my grade. Sort of."

"The exams take place at noon, actually. We can arrange for you to be tested in the morning. It's not a big test, you know. You just have to talk to someone about what you can do and demonstrate it to them. It would help for you to have an official grade, would it not?"

This had come from Iruka, who had clearly gotten over his shock enough to go into lecture mode. Hiruzen nodded along as he spoke.

"Okay, I'll do that then."

"Very well, I'll make the arrangements. That's everything now, so if you have no more questions you're free to leave."

The blond shook his head, an action mirrored by his sensei.

"Just out of interest, before you go… what do you think your sealing grade is right now?"

His brow furrowed slightly as he considered the response.

"The guide I read didn't really say a lot about it, but I _think_ I'm a grade five, and making progress on grade six."

The boy didn't miss the way their eyes widened, but he figured it wasn't worth commenting on. He'd just revealed a secret that he'd made considerable progress on, so of _course_ they'd be surprised.

Naruto just didn't realise how much of a big deal that really was.

OoOoO

Word had spread fast about the previous day's incident, that was for sure. As Naruto walked to class, every group he seemed to pass was talking about the mysterious figure that battled their sensei. Given the design of the mask, everyone had taken to referring to him as "Kitsune-kun."

Not that he was complaining. It was a pretty cool name. It was just a shame that no one would know it was him.

"Hey Naruto, did you hear about last night?" Ino called from behind him. "About Kitsune-kun?"

The boy knew that this was a good opportunity, and promptly broke into a grin.

" _Hear_ about him?" He exclaimed, his voice rising by several octaves to convey his 'excitement'. "I _saw_ him! He was tall and cool, and he trapped Mizuki-sensei in a big purple wall made of fire, then made him shrivel up into an old man!"

There was an incredulous look on Ino's face, which was to be expected.

"And did you see his clothes? He was wearing _orange!"_ Naruto continued giddily. "He looked so cool, I'm thinking about buying the same coat myself!"

There, perfect. That way, if he was ever seen wearing his mission outfit, he could at least put it down as him being a starstruck fan of Kitsune-kun. Naturally there would be certain classmates that would see right through it, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

"You know, you look really creepy when you make that face." Ino muttered, referring to the maniacal grin that he'd plastered across his face. He let it drop, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Once everyone had filed into their seats, a hush descended on the classroom. Iruka stepped forwards, a grave expression on his face as he marked the register. Everyone was waiting to find out what would happen next, especially considering they were supposed to have Mizuki for a lesson that afternoon.

"As you are probably all aware, there was an incident on the academy grounds yesterday." The teacher began once he'd finished his normal morning routine. "Fuuma Mizuki was discovered attempting to steal valuable information from Konoha, and after a short battle with an unknown contender, he was defeated and has now been imprisoned."

He paused to allow this information to sink in for a while.

"Because of this incident, we are now dealing with a shortage of teachers for our physical lessons. Until we can find a new teacher, you will be training with the class a year above you."

The statement was met with muttering as the students began discussing this change of plans. But Iruka was not finished yet.

"In the light of these issues today, I can see that many of you have a lot of pent-up energy. We have decided to cancel your theory lessons today, and go straight to physical sessions so that everyone can become acquainted with one another."

Much more noise broke out this time. Most of the class enjoyed the physical lessons, particularly as it tended to be quite a lot of fun. Though they were slightly apprehensive about training alongside their upperclassmen, it definitely gave them an opportunity to show that they were the better class – even if they were younger.

Naruto remained quiet, though he was smiling widely. He would definitely be looking forwards to this training session, that was for sure.

OoOoO

Half an hour later, the class was stood in one of the academy's training fields. Their upperclassmen stood in a separate group nearby, and both were shooting glances towards one another when they thought they weren't looking.

"Today we are going to be playing an icebreaker game." Iruka yelled once the general noise had died down. He pulled out a familiar bag, upending it and emptying the contents onto the ground before him.

It was a stack of bands similar to those he used for his Karyoshi games. But inversely to the ones he used, these ones were made of many different colours and patterns. They were tied into matching pairs, and it seemed that each pair was different to the others.

"I want you to pair up with someone from the opposite class as yourself, then take a band. You should wear the same marked band as your teammate." The teacher continued. "Who you pair up with is up to you, so make sure you pick someone who will give you a challenge."

The two groups remained silent for a while, regarding one other. Then, one by one, students began to come forward, hesitantly looking for a partner.

"You caused quite a stir yesterday, _Kitsune-kun_."

The voice had come from behind him, quietly whispered into his ear. Had he not sensed the well-known chakra, Naruto would have been rather startled.

"Tenten, good to see you." He replied, turning to face his friend. "Looking to team up?"

"I don't even know what this game is about. Iruka-sensei said to pick someone who would offer a good challenge though, and you're that guy."

"So you're saying I'm good, then."

He received a 'bonk' to the head for that, earning a few confused glances from those around him.

"Don't get the wrong idea, baka!" She yelled. "I just know you better than everyone else, that's all. And it's not like you were my first choice. If we could have teamed among our group…"

"You'd have picked the _super cool Hyuuga_." The boy stated in a soppy voice, before dodging a second punch. "What? You know I'm right. You're crushing on him soooo hard."

"Whatever. So, since you're literally living with your sensei, do you know anything about this game?"

"I might." Naruto grinned. "But I want you to answer a question first."

The female rolled her eyes, but nodded nonetheless.

"How did you know that yesterday's incident was me?" He asked.

"Duh, I was there. No one else has swords like that."

"Oh… right…"

"So? The game?"

"I helped him design it." The blond began as he grabbed a pair of bands. They were yellow, adorned with a swirling flowery pattern. "It's based on a game I've been playing to improve my stealth and tracking skills, called Karyoshi. Basically I make teams of clones, one team hides around the village and one team goes and finds them. Well when he first showed me this game he said he was considering using it as a class activity, but he wasn't sure how to implement it. So since I had a lot of experience playing it, we sat down and came up with this."

"That still doesn't explain what this game's about though." She pouted.

"Instead of just having two teams we decided it would be better if we had lots of pairs. One person from each pair will go into the forest over there and hide. After ten minutes everyone else goes in to search for them. The aim of the game is to have two identical bands, so each pair has to fight for it. Anything that puts people at risk isn't allowed, but support jutsu is okay. Anything sharp is banned but other weapons are fine as long as they aren't dangerous."

"So you have to knock the opponent out?"

"Not really. The rules only say that you're supposed to bring the two bands to the safe zone, which will be marked out here. So if you can just attack your opponent and steal their band, then get to the safe zone before they attack you then that's fine too."

Just as he finished his explanation, his sensei called out to them, instructing them to gather around as he listed the rules for everyone else.

"In your pairs, pick a person to be number one and one to be number two. I want you to get into two separate lines, with number ones on my left and number twos on my right." The chuunin stated, gesturing as he did so.

"Pick your number" Naruto told his friend. When she asked which number meant which group, he simply shrugged and repeated the phrase.

"I'll go for two." She answered finally, clapping a hand to his shoulder as she left for the other line.

OoOoO

[Fifteen minutes later]

Naruto allowed a small chuckle as he watched his target run right below him, not even glancing towards the tree branch he'd been perched upon. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway, though – he was currently making use of a henge that helped him blend into the trunk behind him.

In the distance, he could see the spot where the Hyuuga from the other class had hidden himself. Neji, that was his name. According to Tenten, he'd pushed away everyone around him with his cold demeanour and mutterings of "fate" and "destiny." But the tool-mistress still seemed to have a soft spot for him.

If Naruto recalled correctly, the Hyuuga had partnered with Sasuke Uchiha. That would surely be a fun fight to watch.

His momentary distraction proved to be a big mistake on his part – for the few moments that the boy had been focusing elsewhere, he'd forgotten to monitor Tenten's chakra signature, and he suddenly found himself bound by several coils of industrial-strength ninja wire.

With his hands bound, Naruto was powerless as his hunter strolled right up to him and plucked the band from his forehead. Tenten winked at him, grinning wryly as she turned her back… and stepped directly on a seal that he'd placed on the branch.

The seal did little more than send a pulse of chakra into his opponent's system, but it was enough to disrupt her control. The chakra that she'd been using to reinforce the ninja wire immediately dissipated, allowing Naruto to easily free himself and launch at the girl, who'd been caught completely off-guard.

She managed to parry his attack with her forearm, making note of the considerably heavy tree branch he was using for a weapon. A moment later a metal bo staff was clasped in her hand as she unsealed it, adding her own chakra to reinforce it.

Naruto came forwards once more, swinging his tree branch in a sweeping attack and aiming for her legs. Tenten used chakra to hop over it and into the air, using her momentum as she came back down to slam down on the branch. It broke into two pieces with a reverberating snap, catching the attention of some of the students nearby as the impact also severed the branch they were standing on.

Having fully expected this, Tenten used another chakra-fuelled jump to get some distance between them. She landed on another tree nearby, nearly overbalancing as she did so. As Naruto began to fall, the girl turned tail and began to jump through the trees as fast as she could.

Naruto would have been caught unawares by the sudden drop, but he would be back up and running soon enough. She had to put enough distance between them before that did happen, so she could make it to the safe zone.

Not even one chakra-fuelled jump later, the tell-tale sounds of pursuit from below her told Tenten that the chase was back on. She could see the safe zone in the distance, growing ever closer with each jump, but at the same time she could tell that Naruto was gaining. It would be a close fight, that was for sure.

As the treeline ended and the clear field began, Tenten could see that the boy was directly underneath her. It was clear that she would not be able to make it back to the safe zone in time, so she immediately changed tactic. As Naruto burst out into the clearing the girl immediately jumped into the air, backflipping away from the treeline and up into the higher branches of a nearby tree.

The blond skidded on the soft grass, struggling to keep his footing as he tried to give chase. He could just barely see his opponent through the multitude of leaves, stopping for a moment to catch her breath before she jumped away, vanishing from sight.

The Kyuubi refused to relinquish the chakra that Naruto would need to enhance his vision, stating that it would be "less fun" if he used the easiest option. He sighed, knowing his chance of catching Tenten was rapidly fading. The boy closed his eyes, reaching out to see if he could feel his opponent's chakra. To his utter surprise he could feel her directly behind him, but as he turned to meet her he found that there was no one there.

It took three full rotations for the boy to realise that Tenten was not in fact behind him, but instead that she had placed a seal of some sort on his shoulder. Further inspection confirmed his suspicions; this was a tracking seal, and she'd clearly been using it to find his location.

This was good, though. Tracking seals were useful things, that was true, but they relied on the target being unaware of them. They were little more than two seals linked together, so if the target were to discover the seal they would easily be able to reverse it and discover the enemy's location. They could also 'hotwire' the seal, so to speak, and instead link it to something else, like a rabbit. Then the rabbit would go about its business and the enemy would follow that instead.

So yes, tracking seals were certainly useful. But they could also easily be turned against the opponent.

For now he would leave it be. An opportunity like that was not worth wasting. He would instead use it to guide his senses in the direction of the girl's chakra, helping him to find her in a way that wouldn't give him away. He could use the tracker later if he really needed it.

Judging by her distance, it would seem that Tenten intended to circle around and get to the safe zone from the side. He would lay in wait, concealed within the foliage, and do his best to ambush her despite the beacon that her tracking seal would provide.

He easily found a hiding place, his time spent playing Karyoshi really paying off. At this distance, he knew he wouldn't be able to use anything from his 'extracurricular' training, since there were two teachers and several students that would easily see him once their fight ensued.

The sound of running was the only warning Naruto had before Tenten burst through a bush, her metal staff making short work of the leaves. He could see her looking wildly around, knowing full well that he was nearby, but the fact that she didn't know exactly where he was confirmed that she was not too good a sensor.

The girl seemed to know that breaking her stride would mean making herself vulnerable, so she continued to run despite him clearly waiting for her.

A hand snatched out of a nearby bush, grabbing her ankle as she sped past. The sudden action was enough to make her stumble, but as she was using chakra to enhance her legs the boy could not keep his grip. The wooden kunai she'd been grasping in her right hand was flung into the distance as she did her best to stay upright.

Not even a second later, Tenten's staff crashed to the ground where his wrist had been, leaving an inch-deep ditch in the dirt. Naruto grinned at her as he leapt forward, opting for a simple right hook which grazed her on the shoulder as she dodged to the side. But her dodge had left her wide open for the boy to swing his leg around, following the punch with a hefty kick to the stomach.

He could hear the air leave her lungs with a huff as she doubled over, clearly winded by the attack. But as he looked the girl over, he realised with a sinking heart that she'd somehow hidden the two bands during her escape. He slapped a palm to his forehead, making a mental note to work on his observation skills, before turning and running back into the forest and retracing his opponent's steps.

As his footfalls faded into the distance, the tool-mistress let out a watery smile. Shakily getting to her feet, she spared one final glance in the direction that her opponent had run and headed straight for the safe zone. There, a confused-looking Iruka stood holding the wooden kunai she'd 'accidentally' dropped.

And tied to that kunai was two yellow flower-patterned bands.

OoOoO

Naruto had cottoned on to Tenten's plan soon enough, but by then it had been far too late. Now he sat in a corner of the field, sulking as the rest of the students filed back into the safe zone.

The last pair to arrive had been Neji and Sasuke, the former smirking as he clasped two brightly coloured bands. The Uchiha limped into the field a few minutes later, scowling deeply despite seeming to have lost the feeling in the right side of his body.

It served to put a momentary smile on the boy's face, but it was quickly replaced with a pout once more.

"That marks everyone, present and correct." Iruka called, grabbing everyone's attention. "I hope you put some thought into your opponents, because each of your pairings have been written down. From now on, your opponent is your mission partner. Every training session we take part in will require you to work in these pairs. At the end of the year I want to see perfect teamwork. You must take care of your headbands in this time. You're free to spend the rest of your day as you please."

Naruto perked up at this, confusion written clear on his face. Once the crowd of students had dissipated and he'd bid goodbye to his new 'mission partner', the boy decided to talk to his sensei.

"Iruka, what's going on?" He asked simply.

"I wanted to try something new, and we came up with this idea. It's going to teach you students teamwork and strategy, and you'll have to learn to get along with your mission partners-"

"I don't mean that. I mean I'm taking the exams next week. When I graduate, isn't Tenten going to be left without a partner?"

'When', eh? So he had every intention of graduating the first time around, then.

"Well, it did cross my mind. But your graduation isn't set in stone. You understand that, right?"

"Of course." Naruto replied. "But if I do…"

"If you graduate, then we'll be left with an odd number of students. I know this. But as it happens, we've come up with the perfect solution to that."

"You have?"

Iruka smirked slightly.

"Yep. You see, since you were the one who defeated our assistant sensei, it only makes sense that your first mission after graduation is to become the _new_ assistant sensei."

" _Eeehhh!?"_

OoOoO

[A week later]

Naruto stood in the hokage's office, having just completed the fuuinjutsu grading test. His original estimation wasn't far wrong – he was in fact a grade five, but the amount of progress he'd made towards grade six was far better than he'd first thought.

"So when does the ANBU exam start, old man?" He asked. He was getting kind of impatient standing in this office, as Hiruzen had offered no explanation as to why he was here.

"Patience, my boy. All in good time. Let's wait for Iruka to arrive first."

As if on cue, two knocks at the door signalled the chuunin's arrival.

"Hey Iruka!" Naruto greeted. "I did the test. I'm a grade five, just like I said. But apparently I'm quite close to grade six too!"

"That's great, Naruto." He replied. There seemed to be something… off about him, but the boy didn't really think it was a big enough deal to worry about. "I'll be sure to treat you to some ramen tonight."

The boy flashed a wide grin at his sensei, then turned back to the hokage.

"So, now that Iruka's here, when does the ANBU exam start?" He repeated. His response did not come from the old man as he'd expected, but from his sensei who'd come over to stand beside him.

"Well… about that…"

Naruto could feel his stomach dropping as he watched his teacher stutter.

"You're not going to be taking the exam."

"What? What did I do wrong?" He fretted. "Is this about how Tenten managed to trick me? I only let my guard down because she's my friend, ya know. Or…"

The boy trailed off for a moment as he made the realisation.

"This is about Mizuki." He stated in a tiny voice. There was no question in his voice at this, he just knew.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

The old man was using his 'hokage voice.' This could only spell trouble.

"Your actions last week, quite frankly, surprised all of us." He continued. "You eavesdropped on a conversation you should not have been a part of, you burst in on a private meeting between myself and Kakashi Hatake – and that's just to begin with. It is because of your actions that I have decided to-"

"But please, hokage-sama, you know I was only doing what I thought was best at the time!" He exclaimed, desperately trying to explain himself. But his speech was stopped by a raised hand.

"Please, my boy. Allow me to finish." Hiruzen requested solemnly. "It is because of your actions during that evening that I have decided to offer you a field promotion to the rank of genin."

The blond froze, mouth opening and closing in shock.

"Two days ago, Iruka Umino undertook and consequently passed an examination to be promoted to the rank of jounin. His first action after receiving his new rank was to announce his resignation from teaching at the end of this academic year and take on the responsibility of becoming your jounin sensei. He is also taking part in a new program that bridges the gap between shinobi and ANBU, wherein members are trained as both regular shinobi _and_ ANBU, and as such will be permitted to take on both mission types."

The hokage paused to allow the boy to process what he'd been told. When it became apparent that he did not have anything to say, he pulled out a hitai-ate from underneath his desk and held it out. Naruto walked forwards stiffly, still seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening, and took the black fabric from his hand.

The metal plate was gleaming as he turned it from side to side, inspecting it closely as if it were an unstable explosive tag.

"A custom mask and cloak have been created in order to aid you in your ANBU-ranked missions, which I believe have both been placed on your bed." Hiruzen finished, watching as a smile lit up the boy's face.

It wasn't like his normal smiles, not exactly. Even when he was happy, there had always been a hint of sorrow hidden in those blue eyes. But this time his eyes were sparkling with happy tears, and his grin stretched from ear to ear. The sheer happiness on Naruto's face had been plenty worth the headache that had come from dealing with the council on this matter.

When he'd finally seemed to regain control of his voice, the blond turned and looked Hiruzen directly in the eye.

"Thank you so much, old man." He exclaimed. "I won't let you down, I promise!"

Iruka took this moment to move in front of the boy and crouch down until he was at eye level.

"Well Naruto, I have a question for you." He stated simply. "How would you like to be adopted?"

In his clouded mind, Naruto seemed to be unable to grasp what that meant.

"Then… are you going to put me in the orphanage?" He asked. The newly promoted jounin laughed heartily, confusing him further, before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No, of course not." He smiled. "What I mean to say, is how would you like to be adopted… as my son?"

The new rush of emotions seemed to be too much for the boy. He stared at the scarred man, tears streaming down his cheeks as his eyes glazed over. He was frozen in place once more as the emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

A minute passed. Then another. Iruka was starting to become slightly uncomfortable at the silence.

"Are… you okay?"

The words seemed to be enough to break Naruto out of his reverie, as he let out a sob and lunged forwards into his sensei's waiting arms.

"Of course! I would love to be adopted!" He wept "You're the best father I could ever ask for!"

OoOoO

Memoirs: Publishing day.

[Three days before present date]

"I've finished reading the book today." Iruka stated. He and Naruto were in the kitchen, working on some food. "I think I know someone who would pay a _lot_ to publish this, so I can talk to him tonight if you'd like."

"That would be great." The boy replied, not bothering to look up at his sensei in favour of continuing to peel the potato he was holding. "How long do you think it'll take to publish?"

"A couple of weeks, I'd say. Not much more than that." The scarred man placed the pork he'd been slicing into a pot as he spoke. "Though I'm going to need an author name."

' _ **Kurama Otsutsuki.'**_ The Kyuubi grumbled from within Naruto's mind.

' _I never knew your name was Kurama.'_ The boy replied to him, before relaying the name to Iruka.

' _ **You didn't ask.'**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, it's a short Memoirs story today. Unfortunately I couldn't come up with anything else to write about the Kyuubi, so I thought I'd have it published instead. If you have any ideas on what chapters I could write about next, let me know. Otherwise it'll be comical mission reports.
> 
> I've just realised that I failed to consider something kinda important. So for the sake of this story, students graduate at thirteen as opposed to twelve; though there is an end-of-year test when they are twelve which has the potential to let them graduate a year early.
> 
> "Shishi Kyushu" Is the Shishi Enjin technique followed by a combination of Tajuu Isshi Tojin and a chakra draining seal.
> 
> If you didn't understand it, Hiruzen had intended for Naruto not to learn anything from the scroll of seals but had not realised that there was an extension to the kage bunshin. That extension is the bunshin daibakuha.
> 
> I brought forwards the curse mark potion for a couple of reasons. The primary reason is because I gave Naruto a powerup compared to canon, and as such to keep it fair I figured that Mizuki should use his powerup too.
> 
> In any case, Mizuki is stronger than he's made out to be in the anime, anyway. I mean, c'mon. I get that he was shocked by the fact that there were thousands of Narutos, but that still doesn't change the fact that he got beat by a pre-genin. It's not logical for someone strong enough to make chuunin to have such a hard time.
> 
> I gave him the surname "fuuma" because I thought it was fitting given his reliance on such tools.
> 
> I made some notes about fuuinjutsu, and I decided to add the information to a google docs sheet. I'll add the link to my profile for you to view at your leisure. In there I listed all fuuinjutsu techniques that Naruto could potentially use, either now or in the future, and explained the levelling system for sealing masters.
> 
> Got an idea for a sealing technique? The page is set to allow readers to make comments on it. If you think of a technique that could be used in this fic, note it down in a comment and I might include it!


	17. Shoot - 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto gets used to life as a genin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... surprise! Hinata's Hero is back! It's also my 19th birthday today (Or at least, it will be when this chapter is uploaded (25/05/2020) - I'm adding the finishing touches three days before, but figured it'd be nice to wait a while and post on such a milestone.)  
> In regards to the hiatus itself, I can only offer my most sincere apologies for that decision. Since then I have only actually written about a hundred words or so of KtM before being more or less unable to do anything else. Instead of putting my creativity into where I wanted to (HH) Or where I felt I should have put it (KtM), I ended up creating and posting a couple of new fics. It was a huge mistake in all, but at the same time, leaving it for a while has helped me to mature as a person, and as such I hope to say that the content I output from now on is of a higher quality than it used to be.  
> Don't get your hopes up too far though - While it's true I'll be actively writing chapters for this fic once more, I still can't and won't promise any kind of consistency with my uploads. I've come to the decision to stop pushing myself to release chapters for others' sake, and instead working on when I feel that they're ready. Selfish I know, but I'm an adult now and I have adulting to do.   
> On that note, I have some news. I am in the process of starting up a digital art business! Since finally taking the plunge and buying a graphics tablet just before christmas, I have unlocked huge potential in my abilities and am now actively taking commissions where I can. Because of this change I'll be updating some of the old fan art, and in fact I've already done so with the drawing of Kurama. I'll upload that drawing on the cover on FF and within the reading space on AO3, when I upload this chapter - and if I forget to do so, shout at me ;-;  
> Anyway, enough with this super long author’s note, it’s time to get on with the chapter. It’s been quite a while now, so I’m sorry if you’re going to have to go back and read through a little bit. I’m hoping that the first few paragraphs ought to help jog your memory, though!

_‘Naruto isn’t here.’_

Ino tried her best to glance around the room without attracting anyone’s attention, but to no avail she couldn’t see the familiar mop of blond hair.

Despite his many attempts to escape the classroom, Ino couldn’t think of a single day where Naruto simply hadn’t shown up to class. He’d always been there, with the exception of that one afternoon where Iruka allowed him to leave.

The point was, this was the first time Naruto had been entirely absent, and Ino wasn’t sure why but it worried her slightly.

_‘Damnit dad, why did you have to make me so good at reading someone’s psychology!?”_

Her eyes slid to where Iruka was calling out the register, seemingly unperturbed by his missing student. That fact alone served to calm her nerves a little; he’d been pretty close to Naruto for a while now, so if there’d been anything wrong, surely he’d have been the first to know.

Come to think of it, sensei seemed to be a lot happier today. Excitable, even.

“Ino Yamanaka.”

“Here, sir!”

Ino realised with a start that Iruka had glossed over Naruto’s name on the register, as if it wasn’t even there anymore. What the hell was going on?

Before she could dare to ask about it, Iruka finished the register and began to speak.

“As I’m sure you’ll know, we’ve been looking for a new teaching assistant since the incident that occurred last week.” He stated. “Well I am pleased to tell you that we have finally found someone to replace him! He’s going to be a little late today as he sorts out some paperwork, but I’m sure he’ll be here soon enough.”

The teacher glanced around the room, casting a mischievous eye towards his students before continuing.

“Now, I believe the name ‘Kitsune-kun’ should ring a bell for many of you, am I right?”

A series of mutters broke out around the room, and Iruka was forced to wait for a moment until the class quietened down once more.

“When this incident happened, we believed it to be in our best interest to keep the identity of this person a secret, and so we claimed not to know who it was that had fought so fearlessly against Mizuki. The event, however, allowed this person to be given a promotion, and so we – and by that I mean the hokage and his counsel – decided that it was only fair that the so-called Kitsune-kun was given the recognition he deserved.” He continued. His voice was strong and stern, capturing the attention of everyone in the room as he spoke. “The truth is, if Kitsune-kun had not been in the right place at the right time, the sandaime’s grandson would have been gravely injured or even killed, and Mizuki would have escaped from Konoha with very valuable intelligence.

“This afternoon, he will be recognised as an official hero of the village. But you kids get to hear about this early, because Kitsune-kun is our new teaching assistant! Ah, speaking of which, here he comes now.”

The majority of the class turned their attention to the classroom door, where the faint sound of footsteps could be heard approaching. Their movements ceased directly in front of the door as they knocked; two sharp raps that echoed around the unusually silent classroom.

From the corner of her eye, Ino noticed Shino Aburame straighten up, a confused expression on what little of his face she could see. Almost immediately afterwards Kiba Inuzuka did the same as his puppy Akamaru whimpered quietly into his ear.

Sending her chakra away from her and towards the door, the blonde focused her attention. This was perhaps the most common Yamanaka technique that existed, and yet no one seemed to really bother with it. By stretching out the consciousness in a stream of chakra, the user could focus on a person and gather faint traces of their emotions, even tracing through objects to a small degree.

There was a strong sense of combined excitement and nervousness leaking through, which she supposed was to be expected given that they were the new assistant. But as she dug deeper, a wholly recognisable sadness began to appear, tinged with an undertone of loneliness and fear.

_‘What? No way!’_

It had faded since the last time she’d felt that mix of emotion, but it was unmistakeable.

Iruka, having apparently decided that he’d created enough suspense, cleared his throat.

“I would like to introduce you to your new assistant sensei…”

The door opened, infuriatingly slow in its path as many of her classmates craned their neck forwards, trying to catch a glimpse of the new staff member.

“Mister Naruto Umino!”

Shock raced around the students like lightning as Naruto appeared, deep orange overcoat swishing behind him as he walked over to Iruka’s desk. He allowed a sheepish grin to cross his face as he raised two fingers into a lazy salute, clearing his throat to greet the class…

And then the room exploded.

Incredulous shouts and garbled mutterings of disbelief filled the air as multiple students tried to make themselves heard. From her position in the center of the class, Ino could hear several iterations of “I don’t believe it!” and “he’s got to be lying!” echoed around her as she observed in silence.

For a fraction of a second their eyes met across the room as Naruto cast her a smile. Not the sheepish one he’d plastered onto his face before, but more of a sincere one. A _friend_ smile.

It was rather strange how much… wiser Naruto looked with that hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead. Though, that fact only served to make Ino feel rather jealous too – how had a knucklehead like him been able to make genin before her, heir of a prestigious clan as she was!?

“So, uh…” Naruto began, every bit as awkward as he usually was. “It’s gonna be weird if you all call me sensei, isn’t it? So you can still call me Naruto!”

In stark contrast to the earlier din, the room was now deathly quiet as Naruto’s former classmates hung on to his every word.

“Why do you have sensei’s name?” Someone asked, voicing the question on everyone’s minds.

“Well, I’ve been living with Iruka- I mean, with sensei for four years now. I went through a time in my life where… it was hard to look after myself on my own, so sensei offered to keep an eye on me for a while. Then it just sort of became a permanent thing,” Naruto replied. “I was going to take a graduation test yesterday, but after the incident with Mizuki, the old man told me I’d already proven my abilities.”

The boy narrowly missed a slap to the back of the head at that, as Iruka scolded him about using such disrespectful descriptions for the hokage. As is to be expected, the event caused several people to snicker before they were hushed once more.

“Anyway, after the hokage gave me this hitai-ate, sensei suddenly asked me if I wanted to be adopted! So now, I guess I could call him my father. But I just call him Iruka, because, you know, it’d be awkward otherwise.”

Someone else raised a hand, most likely looking to ask something else, but Iruka waved it off.

“Now, since Naruto’s mostly going to be tasked with taking care of your more practical lessons, what say we go out into the training yard instead of a theory lesson this morning?”

The cheers of thirty-plus students drummed out a resounding _yes_ into the teachers’ ears.

**_/\/\/\/_**

The few weeks that followed were certainly a breath of fresh air for the young genin, as he soon discovered the harsh reality of life as a teaching assistant. While it was admittedly far more enjoyable than going to the academy as a student, actually being employed certainly had its drawbacks.

Like the fact that Iruka now made him get up with the rising sun, a full three hours before the wakeup routine that he’d settled into after four years of living with the teacher. Gods, how he hated the mornings.

It was true that he’d been keeping a similar schedule beforehand, when the nightmares had appeared near-enough every night; but that was because he’d had no choice. Once he’d finally been able to reach some kind of balance, where those visions had begun to wane, his sleeping pattern had eventually settled down and a routine had begun.

But not anymore. It took two weeks for Naruto to even begin to get used to the loss of sleep!

Though he had to admit, working as a teaching assistant payed a decent salary – more or less double what he’d been earning when he worked in both T&I and Niju Buki, to be exact. For the most part there wasn’t really anything he could spend that money on, and Iruka was _still_ refusing any kind of payment for bills, so Naruto continued to add to the growing frog-shaped money bank he’d been keeping since first moving into Iruka’s place. He’d actually had to buy a second, much larger bank around two years ago after he found his old one getting too full for him to even stuff notes into, but he kept them both safe all the same.

At first he’d spent most of his extra money on frequent ramen trips, inviting Hinata with him every now and then as he did. But after a while the novelty of having so much money to spend wore off, and he started conserving his cash a little more.

His technique, if it could be called that, was to only spend money on what he _had_ to buy, and then when the next payday rolled around he’d stow away all the money he hadn’t spent the month before, and the cycle would continue.

Naruto’s ‘official’ schedule now consisted of his work at the academy on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and a day of work in T&I on Thursdays. Besides that, though, the boy would take the occasional d-ranked mission when he had some free time, diligently stowing away the funds from said D-ranks almost as soon as he was paid.

D-ranks were a wonderful source of income, given that the minimum price for a single mission is at least five thousand. This payment was usually meant to be split between three people, but since Naruto just used his clones to finish them in barely any time at all, it allowed him to make in excess of 25k per day, depending on how many missions the old man let him take.

He had been forced to slow down when the list of D-ranks was actually beginning to run out, and other genin who relied on the work for their living costs were having to miss out. Oops!

Besides grinding missions for money, Naruto also stayed true to his promise with Tenten, visiting Niju Buki every Saturday to spar. On some occasions he’d bring Hinata with him, training with her as best he could and teaching her some of his own tricks.

They’d gotten pretty close over the years. Hinata’s constant training with Naruto had certainly done her good, and the Hyuuga had gained a whole lot of confidence in her abilities. Her knowledge with plants herbs was impressive, and with her new friend’s help she had amassed a rather extensive collection of healing salves, potions and poisons, some of which she used in conjunction with her senbon.

That was something else, too. Once Hinata had come to understand how elemental chakra worked, she had been able to implement it into her senbon practice, using her byakugan to target an opponent’s tenketsu and using a sharp burst of lighting release to paralyze them.

In all, Hinata had improved almost as much as Naruto these past four years, and it really showed. The blond was immensely proud of the talented girl that his friend had become.

**_/\/\/\/_ **

“Another teammate?” Naruto asked, his interest immediately piqued. Iruka had mentioned eventually turning their little duo into a functional three-man team, but the boy had figured this would happen once his classmates had graduated.

“That’s what I said.” The teacher replied. “I’ve been watching the steady progress of Hinata Hyuuga, you know, and when I saw how well you two work together I spoke to the hokage about having her graduate early.”

“Hinata as a teammate? That’s awesome!” Naruto exclaimed. “So what did he say?”

“Well, since she hasn’t really shown her true abilities, it’d be hard for him to agree to give Hinata a field promotion until she’s proven her worth.”

The blond nodded. The incident with Mizuki had been more than enough evidence that he was deserving of his promotion, but his training with Hinata had mostly been kept under wraps – even from her family. She’d told him that she wanted their meetings to stay secret, at least as far as her progress went, because she knew that the clan definitely wouldn’t approve of her using techniques that didn’t abide by the ‘Hyuuga traditions’.

“So, is she going to have a test like I was meant to?”

“Unfortunately no. She hasn’t expressed an interest in joining the ANBU so we can hardly send her to an assessment for that, and strictly speaking there aren’t any tests that could be used for such a purpose. Sure, someone could create one, but as it happens there’s another option.” Iruka told him. “A C-ranked mission has recently opened up, but there are currently no teams that are available to take it. The sandaime plans to send Hinata on this mission alongside two chuunin, Izumo and Kotetsu, who’ll assess her actions as they go. The chance of encountering trouble on this mission is very low, so at the very least they’ll be able to spar with her afterwards and work out her abilities from there.”

Naruto saw no issue with that, and stated as much to his adoptive father. He was definitely excited for the opportunity to spend more time with Hinata in any case, and that was certainly going to happen if they began taking missions together, that was for sure.

“When does she go on this mission then?”

“Well, just as soon as the hokage gets permission from her father. I think he’s going to ask tonight, actually, so if all goes to plan she’ll have set off tomorrow morning.”

**_/\/\/\/_ **

Hinata Hyuuga sat beside her father, a neutral expression plastered onto her face. For whatever reason the hokage had decided to visit the clan compound around lunchtime, specifically requesting to speak with the two of them.

She hated the formality of it all, she truly did. The sandaime had immediately stated that he didn’t mind speaking in a less formal manner, but of course her father had not taken any notice and ordered the branch members to prepare their tearoom in advance.

_Don’t speak unless spoken to. Keep your back straight. Do not fidget. Do not break eye contact with your conversation partner._

She’d never really realised that such a routine for something as simple as talking with a comrade was out of the ordinary until she’d begun learning in the academy, where lunchtimes consisted of sitting wherever you liked and eating in whichever manner suited you best.

Suffice to say, Hinata hadn’t made any friends when she sat elegantly in a corner, eating her bento with dignified grace. No, her classmates just waved her off as a stuck-up nutcase after that one.

“Hiruzen, I trust that you understand the gravity of what you’re proposing?” Her father asked. His face remained still as stone, but her well-trained senses easily picked up on the incredulity in his voice. “After all, my daughter has failed in every single aptitude test we’ve given to her – do you truly believe that she is capable of graduating before her peers, when she is little more than a disgrace to the title she is meant to hold?”

Forgetting herself for just a moment, Hinata let out a derisive snort. It was hastily stifled, but the damage was done; she now had the attention of both men as she felt her cheeks grow warm.

“Is there something you’d like to say, Hinata?” Hiashi asked, levelling her with an icy stare. It felt as though he was challenging her, _daring_ her to speak out of turn – and that served only to light a fire of annoyance within her.

“With all due respect, _father_ ,” she began, matching his gaze with the ghost of a heated glare. “I would hardly call it an aptitude test when you expect me to raise a hand to my own sister.”

The girl knew that she’d overstepped the mark, but it was worth it to see the amused crinkling in the corners of the sandaime’s eyes. She turned back to look at the old man as her father spluttered, clearly outraged that his own daughter would talk back to him – and in front of the hokage no less!

“I feel that I am more than ready to embark on a mission, hokage-sama,” she stated plainly. “I will visit the missions office tomorrow morning to discuss it further, if that is okay with you.”

Receiving a simple nod, Hinata sighed lightly and stood up. This, she knew, was breaking one of the rules her father seemed to think was of the highest importance; to _never_ vacate your seat unless given permission by the clan head, but she was more interested in how tired she was feeling right now. It had been a long day, after all.

“I’m going to bed. Goodnight father, hokage-sama.” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

“Well!” Hiruzen remarked lightly. “It looks like your daughter has finally found her confidence.”

“It looks more like insolence to me.”

“Don’t punish her too harshly for it though, okay? She’ll need to be in good shape for tomorrow’s mission after all!”

“Hm. Actually, I don’t intend to punish her at all. While I don’t agree with her acting so… brashly, I would much rather see her act like that than turn into a stuttering mess as she used to. Loathe as I am to admit it, spending time with that boy seems to have really helped her to improve on herself.”

“Then why do you still call her a failure?”

The Hyuuga rested his chin on his hand, cupping his mouth in rather an odd fashion. Hiding a smirk, perhaps.

“My duty lies first in my position as clan head, at least in the eyes of the elders. I have been made aware that Hinata has been training in techniques that go against the general mindset of the clan, and knowledge of this would serve only to tarnish her reputation further,” he explained, shocking Hiruzen with the amount of thought he’d put into it. “I can see that she intends to withhold her abilities, at least until she is strong enough to prove that she is a worthy heir. So for now I play the part of the strict father, until she decides that the time is right.”

“An interesting standpoint. It may backfire though.”

“Indeed, it might. But the alternative may well be to disown her from the clan entirely. The elders would no doubt have several things to say if they discover that the heir to the clan is breaking tradition, to the point that they may attempt to force my hand. By remaining an ignorant party I am simply biding my time, until Hinata chooses to act on her plans. Her increase in strength will outweigh any problem the elders may have with this arrangement, creating a preferable outcome in comparison to others.”

**_/\/\/\/_ **

The mission seemed simple enough, really. They were to escort a bridge builder back to his home over in the Land of Waves and oversee his protection while he and his workers built a bridge. Being called a “timid little weird girl” by their client certainly hadn’t been the best start, but it had gotten Izumo and Kotetsu to share a laugh at least. In any case, Hinata was determined to do her job and get onto Naruto’s team – even if it did mean putting up with the attitude of this man named Tazuna.

During the journey to Wave the Hyuuga had mostly taken position at the rear of their little group, primarily tasked with watching Tazuna’s back and keeping an eye out for any approaching attackers. Despite the progress she’d made over the past few years, Hinata knew that it would still be risky to keep her doujutsu activated the whole time, so she only used it every now and then to scan their surroundings every hundred meters or so.

It had been quiet. Almost tranquil, in fact, were it not for Tazuna’s insistence on always drinking that cheap alcohol he seemed to favour. It certainly didn’t create a pleasant smell, especially when combined with the man’s less-than-pleasant body odour, but Hinata honestly couldn’t blame the man – neither for the drinking nor the poor hygiene – when he began tell his story.

As they walked, Tazuna told them of his life in the Land of Waves. He spoke of the slum-like conditions they had been reduced to since the arrival of a wealthy businessman, whose dealings drove away all forms of trade that the village had bolstered. Eventually he had shut down the borders altogether, only allowing ships of his own enterprise to enter or exit the island on which they resided, while the inhabitants were forced to grow and fish for what little resources they could.

The businessman, who she later discovered was named Gato, had hired mercenaries to patrol the streets too. They were meant to serve as his entourage for the most part, but according to Tazuna they had been terrorising the locals, relieving them of what little money they had left after paying overpriced taxes and excessive food prices.

The bridge, the one that they had been hired to protect, was their only hope. It would connect their island to the mainland and create a way for merchants and villagers to resume trading, serving to break Gato’s monopoly. But it wasn’t quite as simple as just building said bridge.

The businessman was a ruthless ruler, and didn’t take kindly to the “blatant disrespect of his power”. He vowed to kill every one of the men who worked on this bridge, and so Tazuna had fled the village with all of the money they’d been able to scrape together and headed to Konoha.

“It was very kind of the sandaime to grant me this mission, so I guess I shouldn’t complain about having a bunch of kids.” Tazuna grumbled as they approached a seaside town. “He allowed me to put down the money I had as a deposit, in return for our little island becoming trading partners with Konoha in the future.” 

“You seem pretty sure that the bridge will work.” Hinata remarked, placing a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. Catching eyes with Kotetsu, she did her best to relay a message.

_I’ll keep an eye on him._ She wanted to say. _You two can go ahead._

“Well that’s because I am sure!” The man continued, seemingly unaware of the silent exchange that had just taken place. “Before Gato arrived, we were very prosperous. Even though we were entirely isolated by the sea around us, our ships, fisheries and unique goods brought many a merchant to our docks, and with them came a thriving economy. But now Gato’s ships patrol our waters, driving away potential buyers through less-than-legal means.”

“But if they’re doing the work of pirates, why does the daimyo not intervene?”

Tazuna let out a snort. “The daimyo? Pfft. Gato has the man wrapped around his thumb. He’s the richest man in the country, and I have no doubt that the daimyo has been offered a hefty sum of money to keep his nose out of our business here. Far more than what he can garner from taxing our village – in the state it is now, in any case.”

He kicked at a stone, watching as it tumbled over the edge of the dock they were standing on and plopped into the water.

“No, we’re alone in this fight. It’s down to us to bring hope back to this village.”

“You know, it seems like this Gato guy is pretty clever. If he decides to hire shinobi to oppose you, this mission would be totally out of our paygrade.”

The old man seemed rather startled by Hinata’s remark, but any answer he may have given was cut off by the return of Izumo and Kotetsu, the former of whom was shaking his head gravely.

“There’s no easy way to access the island,” He muttered. “No one is willing to hire out their powerboats because they know Gato’s ships will hear them and attack.”

“Not to mention we’ve gotten this mission at a pretty bad time,” Kotetsu continued for him. “According to the fishermen, at this time of year the ocean’s currents all point out into open water, or otherwise back towards this bay. No one but the most experienced of sailors could ever navigate over there without mechanical aid.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to Tazuna, who seemed to understand their meaning.

“I got away from the island by paying a friend to row me here. He was intending to escape to the bay to spend time with his family anyway, so he didn’t mind too much. But I’m a bridge builder, see, not a sailor. I had no idea that the currents would be… well, like that.”

“What do we do now?”

It was Izumo that spoke, one hand rising to cup his chin as he slipped into deep thought. Hinata too was musing over their little predicament, but she soon broke the silence as an idea came to mind.

“I’m assuming you both know how to walk on water, right?” She asked, receiving two deadpan glares in return. “Right, of course you do. The island is only… what, a kilometre away? We should be able to make it that far on foot.”

“But what about Tazuna here?” Kotetsu replied. “No offense old man, but I really don’t see you as a chakra-wielding sort of person.”

“We could hire out a raft, the smallest we can find, and sit him in there. I’ll stay at the front, pulling the boat using some rope and primarily using my byakugan to navigate, and you two can provide an even force from behind to power us forward. The ‘engine’, so to speak.”

It was a pretty risky plan, since the four of them would be pretty exposed in the open water. But the heavy veil of mist that stretched in every direction would be more than adequate for them to slip by any ships they come across, and a small raft would serve to make them a much more difficult target.

After some deliberation as to the specifics for this idea, the group set off in search of a tiny raft. It had been a difficult process to begin with because no one wanted to part with their property, but eventually their efforts paid off when they spoke to a retired captain of an old fishing company.

Though he did not want to sell his own boat, the man was more than willing to show the three shinobi how to build a makeshift raft out of little more than a few logs and a single coil of rope. It took several hours for them to create something that the old captain was happy with, but in the end it was well worth the time as the four now had a way to travel.

What made this raft even better was the fact that it could easily be dismantled, meaning that they would be able to hide any evidence that they had journeyed across the water in the first place. Since the bridge would be completed by the end of the mission there would be no need to use the raft to return to the island afterwards – and if the mission were to fail, there would not be a civilian to transport this time around so the shinobi would be able to simply run across the water anyway.

Giving their thanks to the captain; and in Hinata’s case leaving him with a few medicinal herbs as a gift, the group set off across the water in tense silence. As planned, Hinata walked ahead of the raft, using the rope she held to steer it towards where they needed to go. They were fortunate enough that the journey went uninterrupted, and eventually they landed on a beach not too far from the nearest docks.

Just as Tazuna had explained, the village looked to be in a severe state of disrepair. The signs of a once lively marketplace still remained, but all around there seemed to be a deep sorrow etched into every face that peered towards them.

Footsteps quietened all around as curious eyes turned their way; a bustling street reduced to silence. Hinata found her eyes drawn to one young boy crouched in an alley, dull grey eyes staring hungrily back at her from underneath matted hair. A tattered shirt was draped over his body, so dirty that she could no longer work out what colour it had been to begin with.

She didn’t need to use her doujutsu to see the bloody cloth he’d tied haphazardly around his arm, covering what was obviously a fresh wound.

The Hyuuga crouched down, gesturing to him with as kind a smile as she could muster. The boy hesitated, clearly anxious about approaching, but soon enough curiosity got the better of him and he crept forward.

“Hello there,” she murmured. “Would it be okay if I took a look at your arm?”

A silent nod. A miniscule flinch as she moved to untie the cloth. He shivered and cast his eyes to the ground as she pulled the bloodstained fabric away.

True to her suspicions, an angry red slash was etched into the boy, starting just below his shoulder and curving around towards his back. The shape of this cut suggested that it had been inflicted during a chase; the assailant lashing out in a last-ditch attempt to catch him.

“How did it happen?” Hinata asked gently. She busied herself with gingerly removing her backpack as she spoke, doing her best not to make any sudden movements lest she scare the poor kid any further.

“Merc caught me stealin’ his scratch,” the boy answered. As he shifted his weight, the muted sound of clinking coins was all Hinata needed to understand his meaning. “I got away pretty quick, but he got a slash at me ‘fore I could. Fell flat on his face right after though!”

The Hyuuga allowed a small chuckle at his antics, pulling out a senbon and a jar of salve as she did. A clean cloth followed suit, along with a bottle of liquid and a bandage.

“So, my name’s Hinata.”

“Akuto.”

“Pleased to meet you.” She greeted simply. “Now Akuto, I’m going to need you to be really brave for me, okay? This is going to hurt a little bit.”

The boy gave her a terse nod, watching with interest at the strong-smelling liquid that she was dousing the cloth with. He resisted the urge to yell in pain when she pressed the cloth to his arm, bringing forth a searing pain the likes of which he’d never experienced before.

Hinata worked quickly and efficiently, cleaning the wound with ease and preparing her senbon.

“Just a small scratch now,” she continued. “This needle has medicine inside; it’s going to stop your arm from getting infected. And this salve here, I want you to spread it all over the cut every night until it runs out.”

It took little more than a minute for Hinata to take the bandage and tie it comfortably around Akuto’s arm. She could sense Izumo and Kotetsu getting a little impatient behind her, so she wanted to wrap things up as fast as she could.

The Hyuuga had just opened her mouth to speak when several shouts diverted her attention. Three men were running up the street, shoving past civilians as they made their way towards them. Their rugged appearance and the swords strapped to their backs made it pretty clear that these were the mercenaries that Akuto had been talking about.

More on instinct out of anything, Hinata straightened up and ushered the boy to stand behind her. From where she was standing she noticed Kotetsu’s hand drifting towards his kunai pouch, but he made no move to attack.

One of the mercenaries, presumably the leader, strode right over to her with a vicious snarl, sliding a long, curved sword from the sheath mounted at his hip. As sunlight danced across the blade, Hinata noted the consistency it held with Akuto’s wounds.

“Hand the kid over, little girl.” He growled menacingly. “I won’t hurt you if you comply… much.”

The Hyuuga settled into a loose stance, taking care not to let on how much she knew. To the untrained eye it looked as though she was simply a commoner girl preparing to defend herself against the bad man who was threatening her.

“What has he done to deserve such a terrible glare?” She murmured, using the time she’d bought to take note of the man’s armour.

_‘Poor craftsmanship, lots of weak spots.’_

“That little asshole stole my coin pouch!” He replied. “And I’m going to make sure he pays-“

“Eh!? What did I tell you about stealing from people, otouto!” Hinata cut over him, turning to the rather startled boy behind her. “You know father will tan our hides if he found out about this. Give me the pouch!”

Catching sight of his quivering lip, the girl cast him a sly wink. Akuto seemed to understand, as he quickly pulled out the hefty container and held it up to her. She snatched it out of his hand with a shake of the head, bouncing it up and down in a palm as she looked back towards the mercenaries.

“I’m so sorry about him, guard-san. I tried to tell him that it’s dangerous to keep doing that, but you know what kids are like.” She continued lightly. “He’ll get his punishment when he gets home, I promise you that. Father definitely isn’t someone to be messed with.”

They weren’t happy with that excuse, it seemed.

“Anyway, we really must get going. I… I don’t want to get home late.” Hinata finished, then moved to toss the coin pouch towards the mercenary. It sailed high into the air, far higher than it should have gone considering their close distance.

Three pairs of eyes followed its ascent. No one caught it.

By the time it had come into range, Hinata had activated her byakugan and utilised the lack of attention to disable all three of her opponents with a practiced ease. Perhaps with a normal genin, they might have been able to react in time to stop her. But when you spend several hours a day trying to evade impossibly fast palm strikes laced with debilitating bursts of chakra- well, suffice to say, Hinata was no genin. Not yet, anyway.

The men were sprawled out on the ground, not unconscious but unable to move regardless. The Hyuuga had shut down several tenketsu points in several important areas, effectively rendering them paralyzed for at least an hour – not to mention the intense pain that they would be hit with when their tenketsu finally decided to open back up.

Yeah, that’ll keep them down for a while.

Akuto darted forward once he was sure that they couldn’t move, quickly patting down each man in turn. He lifted everything he could find from them, from lighters to knives, only hesitating for long enough to grin gleefully at the number of coins the trio possessed. Hinata watched on with quiet amusement as he went about his work, taking care to deliver a particularly savage kick to the genital area of the leader as he passed.

When he was done, Akuto turned to run back into the alleyway he’d been crouching in… then paused.

“Um, Hinata… thank yer,” he muttered, reaching into one of the coin pouches and offering her a fistful of coins. “It’s not much, but it’s all I can give yer.”

She hesitated, momentarily taken aback by the kindness, but she soon regained her composure.

“Oh, that’s okay,” Hinata beamed. “Just promise me you’ll use that money for good, alright?”

“O’ course!” Akuto exclaimed happily, before disappearing into the shadows once more.

“You made quite a show there,” Izumo remarked quietly once they’d continued on their walk. “I’m sure the whole village will know we’re here now.”

The girl ducked her head, feeling her cheeks grow warm. “Ah, s-sorry, I didn’t think…”

“No no, it’s okay,” he replied. “You did a good thing in helping that kid out. Our mission isn’t particularly centred around staying covert, so strictly speaking you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Oh, that’s good. I’m glad I helped though.”

“Speaking of which…” Kotetsu interjected from behind her. “We’d better get going, unless you want to be the one to explain to these morons that you helped a kid rob them blind.”

**_/\/\/_ **

Tazuna’s house, much unlike the conditions of the marketplace, was considerably clean and well-kept. The two-storey building stood on the outskirts of the village, nestled in a peaceful forest and only a two-minute walk away from the bridge.

When the group arrived, they were immediately met by Tazuna’s daughter, young woman who wasted no time in greeting them happily. Herding them into a small kitchen she began to make her introductions, all the while stirring a pot of broth on the stove.

“My name is Tsunami. It’s wonderful to meet you!” She exclaimed happily. “This broth will be done in twenty minutes or so; in the meantime I’ll have Inari show you to the spare rooms. Unfortunately there are only two, so you’re going to have to share them between yourselves.”

A young boy was setting the table as she spoke, and Hinata assumed that this was Inari. She offered him a smile, but he only scowled back at her as he led them towards the stairs.

“These are the two rooms you’re staying in, and this is the bathroom,” he muttered, gesturing to each door in turn. “If you need anything just ask my mom or something.”

Hinata thanked him kindly, attempting once more to be friendly, but Inari simply laughed disdainfully.

“Whatever.” He scowled in response. “It’s not like you’ll be here for long anyway – he’ll kill you just like he killed everyone else.”

Before she could come up with a response, Inari had walked away from her and disappeared down the stairs.

**_/\/\/\/_ **

** Mission Report 001 **

**_ Naruto's first mission _ **

_Naruto couldn't help the grin that crossed his face as he approached the mission desk. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Iruka to catch up, eager to get started with whatever mission he'd be given._

_Would he be defeating a group of bandits? Saving a princess? Maybe he would have to defeat a group of bandits and save a princess!_

_Hiruzen smiled warmly as the duo approached, picking up a small scroll wrapped in a fabric tube. A large "D" was emblazoned on the front, its white stitching creating a sharp contrast with the scarlet cotton as the hokage ran his fingers over the seam._

_"You're here for a mission, I take it?" Hiruzen asked, receiving a nod from Iruka and an excitable yell from his student._

_Pulling the scroll from its tube, his smile began to turn mischievous from behind his ever-present pipe._

_"Let's see... aah, this should be the perfect one to begin with!" He exclaimed. "This mission requires you to track down and capture your target, and bring him back to the client... hmm, this seems like quite a big mission. Are you sure you can handle it?"_

_"Of course!" Naruto replied._

_The sandaime threw a scroll towards him without warning, and it was only his well-trained senses that allowed him to snatch it from the air before it could bounce off his head. Opening it up with barely-restrained curiosity, the blond read through the contents, mumbling to himself as he did._

_Mission type: Search and capture_

_Rank: D_

_Client: Madam Shijimi_

_Your mission is to locate and capture the target without allowing any harm to come to it. You should exercise caution, as the target is known to flee from pursuers and will react violently when cornered._

_The boy stared excitably at the scroll, completely unaware of the two adults' smiles growing wider and wider. When he reached the bottom of the mission brief, which contained information about the target he was pursuing, Naruto's muttering grew quiet._

_He reread the information several times before turning to glare at the old man._

_"You want me to capture a cat!?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akuto’s speech pattern was entirely fabricated. If it seems like a derogatory parody of another accent or anything like that, it definitely isn’t. I just looked up a word for “money” and edited a couple other words. Call me paranoid for feeling like I have to explain this, but believe me I’ve seen people get picked apart over these kinds of things.  
> The chapter-end stories from now on are going to be various mission reports or little omakes. Any ideas for such stories would be appreciated!   
> I promise you I’m not lying when I say that this chapter has taken in excess of 16 hours to write – and that’s not counting the several hours I put into listening to the entirety of my fic as an audiobook while going about my daily business. Despite being extremely clear on how this chapter is going to go, having planned it out to even the simplest details, it still seemed to take an etremely long time to get it all down. Maybe it’s because my writing style has changed in the time since the last chapter was uploaded; maybe it’s because of the way I was almost intimidated by how invested I was getting into the storyline while listening to this fic, despite being the author. Whatever the cause, it’s taken a long time but here it finally is.  
> I won’t promise frequent updates. In fact, I won’t even promise consistent updates; the chances are you’ll probably see three chapters released in the space of a week, then have to wait for a month for the next one to be released. It’s just how these things go. I definitely have a lot of plans for the next few chapters, including retcons from the original baseline, sensible implementation of info and even some additions. But I can promise you this: These next few chapters are going to be one hell of a rollercoaster, so strap yourself in and make sure you’re ready for some angst, fluff and everything in between.  
> Thank you for coming back, reader. I’ve missed writing this fic, but what I’ve missed even more is your support <3


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